The CSU MP wins the vote at the Landesjägertag. But his challenger achieved a respectable success, which shows that the association has not yet come to rest.
The President of the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), Ernst Weidenbusch, won an internal power struggle on Saturday. At the Landesjägertag in Augsburg, Weidenbusch was re-elected with 318 votes – his challenger Ernst-Ulrich Wittmann received 273. As a BJV spokeswoman reported, 31 delegates abstained from voting. Wittmann had only announced his candidacy two days before the state assembly. Among other things, he had criticized the fact that the current presidium did not take enough care of the district associations in the regions. Weidenbusch said after the hunters’ day that the delegates had also made a directional decision with the election results. The three vice-presidents of the association were also confirmed.
The BJV is also considered a politically influential association. He represents around 50,000 hunters in Bavaria. The BJV is the umbrella organization for 158 district groups and hunting clubs. The 58-year-old CSU member of the state parliament, Weidenbusch, was elected head of the association for the first time in December 2020. At that time, too, there was a power struggle between two top candidates and their supporters for leadership of the association. In the election at that time, the lawyer Weidenbusch prevailed against the longstanding press spokesman and previous Vice President Thomas Schreder.
The association had previously fallen into crisis. There were fierce internal disputes in 2019 because there were allegations of nepotism and misappropriation of association funds against the long-term president of the hunter, Jürgen Vocke. As a result, the public prosecutor’s office also investigated, but the criminal proceedings were discontinued in the summer of 2021. Vocke had paid a monetary requirement as part of the process, before he had already left his office.
The short-term candidacy of the presidential challenger Wittmann and his good election result showed that the hunting association is still not in calm waters. The 52-year-old patent attorney and chairman of the hunting protection and hunters’ association from Dachau had sharply criticized the association’s leadership. In addition to the basic work, Wittmann complained that the BJV was not well integrated into important decision-making processes. The association must improve cooperation with other groups such as farmers and politicians. “In my opinion, we must now reposition ourselves to prevent further dismantling of our BJV as we know it,” said Wittmann. According to the spokeswoman, critical statements were discussed factually at the meeting. The points raised should be taken into account in the future.