Podcast “important today”
Hans Georg-Maassen vs. CDU: Why a party exclusion is unlikely
Hans Georg Maassen
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
Racist and anti-Semitic provocations – this is how Hans-Georg Maaßen caught the eye too often. On Monday, the CDU could opt for a party exclusion procedure. Paradoxically, he could benefit from it.
“Hans-Georg Maassen has really drifted off politically,” says the political head of the star, Nico Fried in the 463rd episode of “Today important”. While Maassen, as President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, still gave the impression of a “conservative but very loyal civil servant”, he is now certainly closer to the political ideas of the AfD than those of the CDU.
In 2021, for example, Hans-Georg Maassen called for a kind of attitude test for ARD journalists. They were too left for him, there was no evidence for this. And only in January did he speak in an interview of a “red-green racial doctrine” and alleged racism against whites. “The measure is full” – said CDU leader Friedrich Merz at the end of January of the “Bild am Sonntag”. The CDU drew consequences and first asked Maassen to voluntarily resign. He let the deadline pass, which is why the federal executive board of the CDU could decide this Monday to initiate party exclusion proceedings against Maassen.
Why party exclusion procedures are so difficult
According to Nico Fried, it is actually a party order procedure, because the exclusion is far from certain, Maassen could ultimately “only” be sanctioned and not expelled from the party. Procedures like these are fundamentally difficult “because they are incredibly complicated and very time-consuming,” says Fried in the podcast. This is also due to the fact that they not only take place before an arbitral tribunal of the party, but can also be continued by ordinary courts in the event of a lawsuit. And Maassen has already announced that.
In a process of elimination, right-wing forces benefit from years of attention
The fact that Maaßen doesn’t simply say goodbye to the party that no longer wants him is probably not because he’s so attached to his CDU, Fried believes: “It often has to do with the person’s ego.” Because someone who agitates so violently against a party of which he is a member gets constant attention. “And as bizarre as that sounds, right-wing forces actually benefit the moment party lawsuits are initiated against them.” Because over the years you give them constant attention. “And that also has something to do with us media.” Of course, simply accepting statements like Maassen’s and not taking action against them is not easy either, says the political head in an interview with “Today’s Important” editor Mirjam Bittner. But if Maassen were to go to court, they would report about it every time. “That’s fatal,” says Fried.
“Maassen knows exactly what he is doing”
In the end it will be very difficult to prove that someone like Hans-Georg Maassen is damaging the party. “Because how do you want to measure that,” says Fried. The party regulations follow the party law and are ultimately even anchored in the Basic Law. The fact that party expulsion is so difficult is an important democratic factor, Fried believes. Because it is very well desired that there are diverse opinions in a party. “People’s parties have been so important because they have brought people from different milieus, different social backgrounds and with very different opinions to agree on compromises and consensus.”
Hans-Georg Maassen provokes with anti-Semitic elements. “But he’s also a very good lawyer. And knows pretty well what he’s doing,” says Fried. And so there is a great danger that the CDU will not succeed in defining damage in court. “And that probably makes the damage bigger in the end.”
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