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With two electoral objections including sharp accusations against the CDU and the Greens, the AfD failed in the Fulda city council. The party sees itself at a disadvantage due to the cooperation between the CDU, Greens and FDP/FW/FGG factions – and now wants to sue in the administrative court.
Fulda – the background is this Constituent city council meeting on April 20th. There, the CDU, the Greens and the joint parliamentary group made up of the FDP, Free Voters and FGG submitted joint nominations for the election of the deputy heads of the city council and the honorary members of the municipal council.
Although the five groups had not previously come together as a solid coalition, but agreed on a “reliable partnership” and “fact-oriented cooperation”.as it was called when it was founded. In the two Stavo elections four weeks ago, the so-called majority clause according to the Hessian local election law was applied.
AfD faction speaks of “trickery” and exclusion
This regulation enables a parliamentary majority to receive an additional seat in joint election proposals in order to reflect majority relationships in committees. The CDU, Greens and FDP/FW/FGG had submitted coordinated proposals for both elections – for magistrates and deputy city councilors.
This constellation gave the alliance one additional seat each. The AfD, which emerged as the second strongest force in the local elections, received no deputy post and only two seats in the magistrate. Without the application of the clause there would have been three seats. The AfD is now talking about “trickery” and targeted exclusion.
Majority Clause
The majority clause in the Hessian Municipal Code (HGO), in conjunction with the Local Elections Act (KWG), regulates that a party or a joint election proposal that received more than half of all votes in an election also necessarily receives the absolute majority of the mandates or seats in the respective committee.
After the constitutive city council meeting on April 20th, the CDU has five seats in the magistrate in Fulda, the AfD 2 as well as the Greens, FDP, Left, Volt and SPD have one each. The three deputy city council heads belong to the CDU, Greens and SPD.
The group therefore lodged an objection. The AfD argues that the majority clause was inadmissibly applied because the cooperation between the CDU, the Greens and other groups is not a real, lasting coalition, but rather a “loose cooperation” without binding political agreements.
AfD parliamentary group leader Pierre Lamely speaks of an “illegal distortion” of the distribution of seats: “We are of the opinion that we are not playing with open cards here.” The AfD bases its criticism on several points: The majority clause requires stable, long-term cooperation.
CDU firmly rejects allegations
In addition, the vote on the elections showed that the alliance was not acting as a united front, as only 32 of the 33 city councilors belonging to the cooperation had agreed to the joint proposals. The majority clause for the election of deputy city council heads is also not appropriate anyway, as these are individual representations and not a body in which a majority must be ensured.
The CDU and its partners rejected this argument during the discussion on Monday evening (May 18th) and expressed their incomprehension of the contradictions. CDU parliamentary group leader Patricia Fehrmann emphasized that local law does not require a formal coalition.
Fulda CDU clearly rejects AfD criticism
The additional mandate rule was applied correctly. Fehrmann accused the AfD of drawing wrong conclusions for political reasons and recommended taking a look at the legal regulations. CDU city councilor Hans-Dieter Alt also rejected the criticism – sometimes with clear irony.
He speculated that the AfD may have had difficulties because it was unable to achieve its desired committee composition and was now pursuing the goal of “causing unrest”. At the same time, Alt emphasized that there were indeed political agreements for the next five years. The accusation that it was just a tactical “counting community” was also rejected.
However, the tone of the debate became noticeably more tense. Pierre Lamely accused the Union of concealing its cooperation with the Greens for tactical reasons – “so as not to have to explain to its own voters that it is now governing with the Greens”. Alt later countered with regard to the criticism of the majority situation: “We are welcome to practice mathematics together.”
Composition of the committees
In the second constitutive meeting of the Fulda city council, among other things, the chairs of the various committees were announced. Hans-Dieter Alt (CDU) continues to chair the main, finance and economic committee. Johannes Uth (CDU) was elected as his deputy.
In the future, Michael Ruppel (CDU) will head the committee for construction, urban planning, climate protection and mobility. The deputy chairman is Jochen Kohlert (Greens). The Committee for Culture, Tourism and Partnerships is chaired by Jutta Hamberger (Greens). Her deputy is Stephanie Rützel (CDU).
Guido Lomb (CDU) takes over the chairmanship of the Committee for Schools and Sport. Helge Mühr (FDP) was named as deputy. In the Committee for Social Affairs, Family, Youth and Seniors, Dr. Marion Wagner (CDU) appointed chairwoman. Her deputy is Andrea Werner (CDU).
The city council ultimately followed the majority's assessment: both contradictions were rejected by a clear majority with two abstentions, only the eleven votes of their own group supported the AfD position. Shortly after the meeting, the group announced that it would take legal action before the administrative court: “We will have both elections clarified in court.”
