Elections - AfD appoints deputy chairpersons in additional districts
The AfD was able to secure important positions in the district assemblies of Vorpommern-Greifswald and Mecklenburgische Seenplatte on Monday.
Nikolaus Kramer, the faction leader in the Schwerin State Parliament, failed in his bid to become the district president of the Vorpommern-Greifswald district on Monday. However, he was able to secure the position of the First Deputy President for himself in the subsequent vote.
He lost the vote for the position of district president to Sandra Nachtweih of the CDU. In a secret ballot, Nachtweih received 41 votes and Kramer received 22. In the vote for the First Deputy President, Kramer received 42 votes, while his opponent Katharina Horn of the Greens received 16.
The AfD had won the district election in Vorpommern-Greifswald on June 9 with 29.8% of the votes. It was their best result in any district in MV. They now have the largest faction with 19 members. The CDU, as the second strongest force, has 18 members. The district assembly has 71 members.
Kreispresident re-elected in Seenplatte
In the district assembly of the Landkreis Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, which also held its constituent session on Monday, only Amtsinhaber Thomas Diener (CDU) ran for the position of district president. The AfD, which was the strongest force in the Seenplatte district with 29.6% of the votes, sent their Landtag member Enrico Schult to run for the position of the First Deputy President, but he failed against Thomas Schröder from the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). In the vote for the Second Deputy President, Schult was able to win against SPD politician and Landtag member Andreas Butzki with 36 to 32 votes. The district assembly has 77 members.
The two personnel developments show that the much-discussed "wall" against the AfD is continuing to crumble. In the district assembly of the Landkreis Vorpommern-Rügen, an AfD candidate, Carlos Dias Rodrigues, had recently been elected as the First Deputy President of the district president.
In the past week, the Landtag in Schwerin had called on all politicians in MV to "not appoint candidates of antidemocratic parties or associations to offices or functions and not to support their applications". This referred to the AfD.
- Despite the CDU's victory in the Schwerin State Parliament, their party member, Nicholas, failed to become the district president of the District Vorpommern-Greifswald, conceding the position to Sandra Nachtweih from the AfD.
- The victory in the district election of Vorpommern-Greifswald allowed the AfD to establish the largest faction in the district council with 19 members, surpassing the CDU's second-strongest force with 18 members.
- In the neighboring district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Thomas Diener from the CDU was re-elected as the district president, while Enrico Schult of the AfD failed to secure the position of First Deputy President.
- In the constituent session of the district assembly in Neubrandenburg, a sign plate possibly displayed the names of the elected officials, such as the newly appointed First Deputy President, Carlos Dias Rodrigues from the AfD in the Landkreis Vorpommern-Rügen.
- Following the recent events in various district councils, including Schwerin and Vorpommern-Greifswald, there are growing concerns among political parties in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern about the impact of the AfD on local governance.
- There is a distinct possibility that the AfD's influence in the district councils of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern may continue to expand, as seen in the election results in Pasewalk and other districts.
- With the CDU and other political parties trying to maintain a distance from the AfD in light of their recent victories, it remains to be seen how they will respond to the changing political landscape when the District Council of Mecklenburg-Greifswald comes into session.
