faq
The AfD leadership is banning Maximilian Krah from appearing. He is also withdrawing from the party’s federal executive board. But he remains the EU’s leading candidate. What does this mean for the European elections?
A good two weeks before the European elections, the AfD has banned its own top candidate, Maximilian Krah, from appearing. Krah himself confirmed his withdrawal from the election campaign and from the federal executive board.
The 47-year-old was already under pressure because of the espionage scandal involving an employee and because of his proximity to Russia and China. What consequences does this have for the European elections?
How did Krah withdraw?
The trigger was an interview with Krahs with the Italian newspaper La Repubblicawho asked about the National Socialist SS. There, Krah stated: “I will never say that everyone who wore an SS uniform was automatically a criminal.” When asked whether the SS were war criminals, he replied: “There was certainly a high percentage of criminals, but not all of them were criminals.” The SS guarded and administered the concentration camps, among other things, and was largely responsible for war crimes. At the Nuremberg trials after the end of the Second World War, it was declared a criminal organization.
The French Rassemblement National stopped working with the AfD because of Krah’s statements. The French right-wing party RN has so far sat with the AfD in the European Parliament in the ID faction. After the election, we will have new allies and will no longer sit on the side of the AfD, said RN party leader Jordan Bardella.
Can the AfD Krah still get away with it? List of candidates take?
No, this is only possible within a certain period of time, and that period has already expired. The European Elections Act stipulates that the Federal Electoral Committee makes a binding decision on the acceptance of nominations 72 days before the election. A withdrawal should have taken place by March 29th.
How can a candidate once admitted be deleted?
This is only possible in two situations. Firstly, if the candidate dies. Secondly, if he loses his eligibility to stand for election. This is automatically the case if he is sentenced to at least one year in prison for a crime. For certain crimes, the court can order the loss of passive voting rights even after a prison sentence of six months.
These crimes include, for example, using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations or preparing a serious act of violence that endangers the state.
What happens if Krah does not accept the election?
The first to go are the substitute candidates of a party. If a party has not nominated any substitute candidates, the candidate who, based on the percentage of votes received by the party, would not have made it into the European Parliament takes his place.
What consequences does this have for the AfD?
For the AfD, the scandal with the Rassemblement National could mean a loss of power at the European level. The dispute over Krah could also have repercussions within the AfD – at the federal party conference in Essen at the end of June.
In addition to Krah, the second-placed member of the Bundestag, Petr Bystron, is also under pressure and has now also announced that he will not appear in the election campaign for the time being. This is for family reasons, Bystron told the Bavarian Radio. A party spokesman confirmed the statements. Bystron left it open how long he would withdraw.
Bystron is accused of accepting money from Russia. On Thursday, the Bundestag lifted Bystron’s immunity because the Attorney General’s Office is investigating him on suspicion of bribery and money laundering. Police searched his parliamentary office in Berlin, among other places.