The AfD group itself made it very clear on Tuesday how important it considers the issue of transparency. The member of parliament and deputy federal spokesman Stephan Brandner warned that confidence in politics is falling a new study. It’s no wonder if “important decisions are made in a non-transparent manner and behind closed doors”. Brandner referred primarily to the other parties and praised his own: “We stand for more real citizen participation, for more democracy!”
In their own parliamentary group, however, not everyone considers the AfD to be a great role model when it comes to transparency. According to information from Süddeutsche Zeitung For several weeks, a heated argument has been smoldering among speakers about allegedly non-transparent personnel decisions by the parliamentary group leadership. It is about the allocation of important posts and the amount of salaries, it is said. Now the internal dispute threatens to escalate further. This month, employees of the parliamentary group want to get something going that the AfD has not previously had: a works council.
According to the information, a staff meeting is planned for April 28th. So far, the only topic of the meeting is the establishment of a works or staff council, according to faction groups. The reasoning is profound. Insiders say the initiators hoped that by taking this step they would be able to better represent their own interests to their own leaders. The mood among the speakers of the parliamentary group is anything but good.
MPs also know about some frustration among the approximately 100 employees. They see the planned start of the works council as unmistakable criticism of their own management: “This can also be seen as a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the parliamentary group around Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel,” said members of the Bundestag.
Are employees subject to sanctions if they attend the meeting?
Especially for Chrupalla, who is also party leader and would like to be re-elected as such at a federal party conference in June, the fuss is inconvenient. He had recently been harshly criticized by other AfD MPs because of his initially relativizing Russia course. According to MPs, the displeasure of the Berlin employees could now also be a topic at the next parliamentary group meeting at the end of April. However, the majority of the board is critical of the establishment of a works council. Internally, there is talk that employees would be threatened with sanctions from the group if they took part in the meeting.
The AfD parliamentary group responded to several questions about the events and allegations with a short statement: “The parliamentary group leaders respect the right of parliamentary group employees to decide independently on the establishment and organization of an interest group,” said a spokesman on Tuesday. “Furthermore, the parliamentary group leadership does not provide any information on personnel matters.”
Incidentally, the AfD would not be breaking new ground with the establishment of a works council in the Bundestag. In parliament, it has long been customary for parliamentary groups to have their own employee representatives. The CDU/CSU, SPD, Left and Green factions have their own staff representation. Some for many years. Only the FDP and the AfD have not yet had such a body. The FDP was also open to such a move on Tuesday: “If our employees express any wishes in this regard, we are open and supportive,” said a spokeswoman.