AfD election victory in Pirna, Saxony: party appoints mayor for the first time
Lochner is a member of the AfD parliamentary group in the city council, but not a party member himself. He runs a carpentry business. Lochner already stood in the 2017 mayoral election, but was clearly defeated by the previous incumbent Klaus-Peter Hanke (non-party), who did not run again in the current election for reasons of age. Lochner prevailed on Sunday against the CDU candidate and a candidate from the Free Voters.
"Thank you to the many voters who made this historic result for the AfD possible," wrote AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel on the online service X, formerly Twitter. Her co-chairman Tino Chrupalla explained that Lochner would "represent the interests of the citizens of Pirna well".
The Greens expressed their concern. "We are dismayed by the election of a mayor from a party that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as right-wing extremist last week," wrote the Saxon state association of the Greens on X. "We must now do everything we can to strengthen our coexistence and restore confidence in our democracy."
The district chairwoman of the Left Party, Lisa Thea Steiner, warned against a policy of "social coldness" in Pirna in the coming years. "In the coming months and years, we will challenge the new mayor on content. We will be loud where he tries to push through anti-social policies. We will point out where he is breaking election promises," explained Steiner.
Last week, Saxony's Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD in the Free State as a confirmed right-wing extremist party. After Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, the Saxon AfD is already the third state association with such a classification.
The classification means that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can use intelligence service resources without restrictions to gather information about extremist activities of the state association.
Lochner had already received the most votes in the first round of voting on November 26 with just under 33%. Ralf Thiele from the Free Voters came second with around 23%, while CDU candidate Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth came third with around 20%. As none of the five candidates achieved the required absolute majority, a second round of voting was necessary.
Two defeated candidates, the individual candidate André Liebscher and the Social Democrat Ralf Wätzig, who was supported by the SPD and the Greens, decided not to run again in favor of the CDU candidate. The Left Party also supported Dollinger-Knuth in the second round of voting. She now came second with 31.39%, ahead of Thiele with 30.08%.
Voter turnout on Sunday was 53.8 percent after 50.38 percent in the first round of voting. The mayor's term of office is seven years. A total of around 31,700 eligible voters were called to vote for the new mayor.
This means that the AfD now holds two top municipal posts in Germany. In June, AfD politician Robert Sesselmann won a district council post for the party for the first time in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg.
The AfD had previously tried to push through its candidates in mayoral elections in other cities. So far, however, they have failed in the second round of voting or the run-off at the latest.
Pirna, located south-east of Dresden on the edge of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, has around 40,000 inhabitants. The town is best known for its almost completely preserved old town and its proximity to the Saxon Switzerland tourist region.
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- For the first time, the AfD has secured a mayor position in Pirna, Germany.
- One notable figure from the AfD is Tino Chrupalla, who praised the newly elected mayor's ability to represent the city's citizens well.
- Lochner, a carpenter, prevailed in the recent election against the CDU candidate and a Free Voters candidate.
- The AfD's victory in Pirna follows a classification of the party as a right-wing extremist by Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
- Weidel, the AfD's chairwoman, expressed gratitude to the voters who made the party's election victory possible.
- Saxony's Alliance 90/The Greens voiced concern over the election of a right-wing extremist mayor, pledging to work towards strengthening democracy.
- The Left Party's district chairwoman, Lisa Thea Steiner, warned against social coldness in Pirna, promising to challenge the new mayor's anti-social policies.
- In the previous round of voting, Lochner had received the most votes, with Thiele and Dollinger-Knuth following close behind.
- The second round of voting saw Dollinger-Knuth's support increase, but she still fell short of securing the required majority.
- Raft Thiele and Ralf Wätzig, who were backed by the SPD and Greens respectively, chose not to run again in the second round.
- The term of office for the newly elected mayor is seven years, with a total of around 31,700 eligible voters called to vote.
- Pirna, with its fast-approaching December changes and proximity to the Saxon Switzerland tourist region, now holds dual-party municipal positions, with the AfD gaining ground in Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
