Regional leaders face criticism. - Board member steps down at BSW Thuringia
Up at the Thuringia BSW state association's headquarters, there's the first staff member who's leaving: Ex-deputy Mario Forchhammer has thrown in the towel. The state association shared this news on a Wednesday. A few publications earlier had mentioned this and cited a written statement by Forchhammer.
In the letter, which dpa can also access, Forchhammer accuses the two chairpersons of serious accusations. "Especially the non-transparent, autocratic-looking decision-making of the two chairs and sometimes 'creative truths', along with some personal assaults from the chairman, have left me no room for collaboration or even trust," he mentions. The BSW chairpersons in Thuringia are Eisenach's mayor, Katja Wolf, and entrepreneur Steffen Schütz. Forchhammer clarifies that his decision to leave is not due to "my being neglected on the state list".
The left-leaning group known as BSW has been a state association in Thuringia since mid-March. Over the recent weekend, roughly 40 voting members elected a list of 32 candidates for the state election. They pretty much followed the proposal drawn up by the state leadership.
Forchhammer notes in his resignation statement that the candidate list features the top spots, with a few exceptions. It's "careerists and people who are actively involved in politics for personal reasons". "Clucking around is what you'll find not just in the Thuringian BSW, but in all the other parties these days," says Forchhammer.
The Thuringian BSW state association has a staff of 47 members. Until recently, the party decided centrally in Berlin on whether people were eligible for joining the BSW or not. Now, Thuringian BSW members can put forward recommendations for membership applications.
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In the midst of controversy, Forchhammer, a former BSW Thuringia board member, resigned, citing issues with the autocratic decision-making style and personal attacks from the chairpersons, Katja Wolf and Steffen Schütz. Despite BSW's recent election of a state list, Forchhammer criticized it as filled with careerists and politically motivated individuals, comparing it to other parties in Thuringia.
