Nowadays one shouldn’t say anything critical – this building block shouldn’t be missing in any AfD speech – without experiencing social ostracism and sanctions. Only your own party, of course, which stands for “courage to tell the truth”. AfD country chief Stephan Protschka put it similarly a few weeks ago in the BR political magazine Controversial. One is the only grassroots democratic force in the country, while in other parties members who stink against the leadership are promptly “thrown out” – “it’s not like that with us”.
Oops, not a few in the Bayern-AfD thought so, really? Because internally there is a heated debate about the Kurt Schreck case – about what his supporters call a “punishment action” because of their own thoughts.
But first things first: In August, representatives of Protschka’s board and the works council of Bayern-AfD met at the Munich labor court. It was about the planned move of the party headquarters from the Munich area to Greding in Middle Franconia. For cost reasons and because of synergies with storage space rented there, said the party leadership. Not true, said the works council. The employees are to be scared away with the move and replaced by followers of the ethnic “wing”; the AfD current dominates the incumbent party leadership in Bavaria.
Schreck, in turn, appeared in court as legal counsel for the works council. He is no stranger to the AfD, was a member of the state board years ago and is a member of the Main-Spessart district council. As a result of the court hearing, an exclusion from the party was initiated against him – his appeal is now at the state arbitration court of the party.
Revenge for your own opinion? Various interpretations are circulating in the Bayern-AfD if you ask around. Some say that Schreck had done “a lot” for years before the court date. He is said to have provocatively asked a particularly right-wing man from the state executive when he would finally found a “NSDAP local group”. Others say that fright is a “nuisance”, but you have to endure it. The next ones are talking about a “muzzle culture” and about the suppression of moderate forces under the pretense of trifles.
When asked by the SZ, Protschka himself said nothing about it, all internally Controversialinterview, he was asked in front of the camera about other current party exclusions, it was about Holocaust theses and violent fantasies. Protschka added that Schreck was dealing with “similar things” – the Lower Franconian then reportedly reported to the head of state for defamation.