The AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag is shrinking again: it started the legislative period with 82 members in autumn 2021, but will soon only have 77 elected representatives. The reason is the resignation of MP Thomas Seitz from South Baden from the party and parliamentary group. Seitz announced on his website and social media channels that he would be leaving effective March 31st. Seitz, who speaks of a “system of favoritism,” says he struggles with what the party has developed into.
The decisive factor for the exit was the AfD’s special party conference in Baden-Württemberg at the end of February. During the meeting he had already had an urgent need to leave the party immediately, but he had put this off for weeks and was still torn inside. “But the prevailing feeling is still that of pure disgust for my own party,” said Seitz. He is expressly not concerned with a shift to the right in the AfD. He announces that he will continue to fulfill his mandate as a non-attached MP.
The AfD Baden-Württemberg party conference on February 24th and 25th in Rottweil was characterized by chaos and tumult. A power struggle between two camps is raging in the regional association. The board members argued openly about whether the event could be held. There were not enough seats available in the hall. In the town hall there were tumultuous scenes, boos and even a kind of mutton jump: everyone present had to leave the hall again in order to sort out those who were not entitled to vote.
According to Seitz, as if nothing had happened, a second party conference was held to vote and change the statutes. The leadership duo – Bundestag member Markus Frohnmaier and state parliament member Emil Sätze, both representatives of the camp around AfD leader Alice Weidel – were able to hold their own in office in the election. In his statement, Seitz speaks of a “coup by the chairmen.” Other participants in the state party conference also criticized the meeting after the meeting. Some members called for a repeat and new elections for the state executive board.
Seitz wants to enable employees to be armed
Seitz has attracted public attention several times in the past: After racist statements, a court decided in 2021 that he was no longer allowed to work as a public prosecutor. He was removed from his position as a civil servant in 2018.
It was only in mid-March that 56-year-old Seitz caused a stir when he criticized what he saw as inadequate armament options for employees on their daily journey to parliament. In a “failed state” like the federal capital Berlin, the “defensive armament on the way to work” is “advisable to everyone” “who, unlike members of parliament, moves unprotected in public spaces or on public transport,” said Seitz South German newspaper. “Anyone who holds a so-called small firearms license can legally carry weapons for self-defense on the way to work must also have a legal opportunity to bring them to their workplace in order to keep them safe during working hours,” says Seitz.