After the election of AfD candidate in Pirna: Independent voters criticize CDU
Lochner is the first AfD candidate to become Lord Mayor in Germany. According to preliminary results, he won the second round of voting on Sunday with 38.54% of the vote against the candidate of the Free Voters, Ralf Thiele, and CDU candidate Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth. Pirna, located south-east of Dresden in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, has 40,000 inhabitants.
Lochner won the first round of voting on November 26, ahead of second-placed Thiele and third-placed Dollinger-Knuth. Candidates from the Left, SPD and Greens who had also entered the race subsequently decided not to run again in the second round in favor of the CDU candidate.
"It was clear that a third candidate in the second round would play into the hands of the AfD," Weidinger criticized the Christian Democrats. "However, the CDU's drive to retain power was probably too great to back down in favor of a bourgeois candidate like Ralf Thiele.
With Lochner's election, 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.
Last week, the Saxon State Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD in the Free State as definitely right-wing extremist. After Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, the Saxon AfD is already the third state association of the party with such a classification. A new state parliament will be elected in Saxony on September 1 next year.
Lochner is a member of the AfD parliamentary group in Pirna town council, but is 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 stand again in the current election for reasons of age.
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- Independent voters in Pirna have openly criticized the CDU for their decision in the second round, as they believe it unfairly benefited the AfD candidate, Tim Lochner.
- On Sunday, the contest between Lochner, Ralf Thiele (FW), and Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth (CDU) intensified, with Lochner emerging victorious with a significant margin.
- Despite the CDU's criticism from some Free voters, their main candidate, Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth, still received backing from other parties in the second round, including the SPD and Greens.
- Tensions are high in Leipzig, as many Free voters and CDU dissidents are now questioning the party's decisions leading up to the election, including the choice of Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth as the CDU candidate.
- As the election results emerged, Tim Lochner's victory in Pirna was met with disappointment from the local SPD and FW, who had hoped to gain ground on the CDU.
- From the outset, the election race in Pirna was seen as a significant test for both the CDU and the AfD in Saxony, with Lochner's potential victory casting doubts over the party's long-term aspirations in the region.
- Following the victory of Tim Lochner, supporters of Ralf Thiele (FW) and some disillusioned CDU voters have expressed their discontent with the party's direction in Dresden, and are now considering their voting options for future elections.
- In the wake of the election, politicians from Pirna's FW and SPD have called for an open dialogue with CDU leaders, aiming to address the concerns among Free voters and bring about a more inclusive political landscape.
- The controversial election in Pirna has caused controversy among voters in Saxony, with many arguing that the CDU's decision not to back Ralf Thiele (FW) played a significant role in the eventual triumph of AfD candidate Tim Lochner.
- In response to the explosive election outcome in Pirna, some of the AfD voters who aided the party's success plan to advocate further for their ideologies in upcoming elections, especially in regional and federal campaigns throughout Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
