This year it should finally work: Konrad Dippel, 50, wants to move into the Bundestag as a non-party individual candidate for his constituency of Weiden. It is the fifth attempt for the Upper Palatinate.
SZ: Mr. Dippel, how is the election campaign going?
Konrad Dippel: I am currently in the middle of the preparations. That means designing posters, placing ads, making an introduction video, attending election campaign events. This year I have a good feeling again, I really put myself into it. I really enjoy all of this, moving into the Bundestag is my life’s work.
You want to move into the Bundestag as an individual candidate. How come?
I had my key experience in 2004. I didn’t like the direct candidate of the CSU, to put it mildly. That he is sure of the direct mandate, just because he is in the party, annoyed me. I felt that was a gross democratic deficit. I did some research and found out that I can run as a non-party individual applicant if I show 200 signatures to the election officer. I did that then. Since then I have contested four election campaigns, the last one being my most successful.
What motivates you to start again even though you have failed four times?
It is my vision to break the knot in voters’ thinking that individual applicants cannot make it anyway. I cannot emphasize enough how strong the first voice is. If I do this miracle, it will affect all elections that come after that. I want to provide information about our electoral system, which explicitly allows for non-party individual applicants. Even the fathers of the Basic Law saw this as a useful enrichment for the Bundestag.
Why are you running non-partisan?
Actually, I was socialized in a jet black family. At school we should make something out of scraps of paper – I made Franz Josef Strauss there. Later I realized that as a party member you can never act purely from your own conscience, you always have responsibility for the party. I want to be elected as a person, for my values and my actions, not as a party soldier.
How do the other applicants react to you?
I lulled the others with my failure in the last two elections. In the election campaigns at the time, I didn’t have that much time for professional reasons, so my results were correspondingly poor. But I get along well with all of my competitors, I don’t want open hostility, that’s far from me. The only thing that worries me is the bad press.
Konrad Dippel, 50, got almost 9.3 percent of the first votes in the constituency of Weiden in the 2017 federal election.
(Photo: ROLAND SEILER)
What do you mean?
It’s not fair. The other candidates get more attention through their parties alone and thus more space in the media. And it is often written that my candidacy is hopeless. That’s just not true.
In the last election you had around 12,000 votes, the winner almost 60,000. Aren’t the votes a waste of votes for you?
No. That is a standard argument of the opponents. In a constituency where the CSU candidate almost always gets over 50 percent of the first votes and all other candidates between two and 15 percent – all these votes are thrown away if you go along with this argument. In addition, the CSU man does not have to win with a 30 percent advantage over the others.
How do you finance your election campaign?
I sold my company, so I’m a wealthy person. In addition, each applicant receives a reimbursement for the election campaign costs if he has won at least ten percent of the first votes. In 2017 I had less than ten percent, so I didn’t get a refund.
How do you rate your chances this year?
I only need one more vote than the other candidates. According to my calculations, at least 35,000 votes are required for this. That means I have to triple my 2017 result. Maybe this year I can win over some of the protest voters who are dissatisfied with the arguments between the parties. I know from the election statistics that I am elected by very different people.