It’s Thursday, the morning after the little tremor in the party. The Free Voters have invited to the Epiphany, and party leader Hubert Aiwanger is about to speak. The meeting takes place digitally, without an audience in the hall, but you could imagine how excited some FW members are sitting at the screens at home. How will Aiwanger react to what happened? Shortly after ten, the director fades him in. “First of all, have a nice, healthy, happy New Year,” says Aiwanger. This year could not have started more badly for him.
In Nuremberg, the second largest city in Bavaria, the entire FW city association has turned its back on the party. “We are no longer a member”, this message sent city association chief Jürgen Dörfler out into the country on Wednesday. A corresponding letter had already been received in Munich, said Dörfler, a spokesman for the regional association confirmed this. The local political work in Nuremberg was to be continued as a “Free Voters’ Association”, said Dörfler. As the main reason for leaving, he cited dissatisfaction with FW politics at the state level, especially with the positions of one man: Hubert Aiwanger.
From the parliamentary group, but especially from Aiwanger, the big cities are neglected, says Dörfler. “Bavaria does not only consist of rural areas.” Aiwanger’s initial skepticism about vaccinations also “irritated many members”. In a survey, a clear majority of the Nuremberg members were in favor of leaving, and at the end of December the city association’s board of directors also decided in favor of a majority.
And what does Aiwanger say? He speaks for almost three quarters of an hour at the Epiphany. He demands more money for the care that has been “politically ruined” over the years. Because of the price crisis in pig breeding, he warns that people will soon be able to “argue about the last schnitzel or the last bratwurst at the refrigerated counter,” and that “things would go around politically in this country”. On the other hand, Aiwanger does not say a word about how things are going in his party.
Already in the summer, when the now vaccinated Aiwanger expressed skepticism about the corona vaccination, there were reports of party withdrawals. Is the departure of the Nuremberg city association the next indication that Aiwanger’s authority is crumbling? Fabian Mehring, parliamentary managing director of the FW state parliamentary group, denies this. He sees “no mood against Aiwanger”. In a party with several thousand members, “you will always find someone who is currently dissatisfied with someone,” says Mehring, adding flippantly: “Mr. Dörfler has also left the CSU before.” In addition, several FW members emphasize that the Nuremberg city association is rather small and insignificant.
According to reports, there are actually reasons for the Nuremberg collective exit that are deeper and smolder longer. Inside the party, for example, there should have been displeasure when Dörfler publicly speculated in spring 2021 that immigrants unwilling to integrate would be less able to adhere to the corona rules. Perhaps that is why the district chairman in Middle Franconia, Steffen Schmidt, emphasized that he was happy and “rather grateful” that a fresh start was now possible for FW Nürnberg. “It was our turn to change something anyway.” The previous head of the city association Dörfler blocked the admission of many new members and thus prevented growth. “Success in the cities is important for the free voters,” emphasized Schmidt. Economics Minister Aiwanger has also shown this, for example by helping to bring the Bavarian Hydrogen Center to Nuremberg, as several FW members in Middle Franconia emphasize. Now they want to reposition themselves with the support of some long-standing members in Nuremberg, said Schmidt.
Not only in Aiwanger’s speech, but also at the virtual regulars’ table to which the FW boss invited the party members after the Epiphany, the Nuremberg revolt was not an issue, as participants report. So not a quake after all, rather a storm in a water glass? At least the free voters in neighboring Fürth are also discussing leaving the regional association. The chairman of the local city association, Heidi Lau, said on Wednesday that there were these considerations. Because of the pandemic, a general meeting and a resolution have not yet taken place. Lau did not initially name reasons for the exit considerations in Fürth.