Party - CDU leadership: complaint against Maaßen remaining in the party
The CDU leadership has lodged a complaint against the retention of the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen, in the party. Maassen's exclusion is "politically imperative and legally permissible and necessary", according to a 67-page letter of complaint, which was made available to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Milder means were legally and politically insufficient. The letter is dated November 9. "Der Spiegel" had previously reported.
Rejected exclusion was a "colossal miscalculation"
CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann had announced at the beginning of November that he intended to lodge an appeal against the decision of a district party court in Thuringia. In July, the district party court responsible in the first instance rejected Maaßen's expulsion from the party and ruled that he should have his membership rights restored. The court issued a "reprimand" against Maaßen.
In the letter of appeal from the federal CDU, this is described as a "colossal misjudgement". Maaßen has shown this himself through his further behavior. "Since the hearing and debate, he has continued to violate the rules and principles of the CDU."
For example, Maaßen advocated cooperation with the AfD. He has become "politically and ideologically radicalized" and lives "in a world of thought that is typical of the AfD, not (any longer) in that of the CDU".
Maaßen wrote to the German Press Agency on request that the party court in Erfurt had "rejected in no uncertain terms" the motion to expel him from the party. "Obviously, the party leadership has still not understood its lesson and continues to try to persecute me with malicious, malicious and stupid insinuations and thus suppress necessary debates," Maaßen wrote. She has so far rejected every offer of talks.
Who is Maaßen?
Maaßen, a long-time CDU member, is the head of the Werte-Union, which is considered particularly conservative but is not a party organization. He stood as a candidate in a constituency in southern Thuringia in the 2021 Bundestag elections, but was unsuccessful.
Maaßen had also come under heavy criticism in his own party for several controversial statements - for example, for claiming that the "driving forces in the political media" were "eliminatory racism against whites".
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
- The CDU's complaint against Hans-Georg Maassen's retention in the party was submitted to the German Press Agency, citing his behavior as the reason for the move.
- The district party court in Thuringia previously rejected Maaßen's expulsion from the CDU and instead issued a reprimand, a decision that the CDU leadership described as a "colossal miscalculation" in their appeal.
- Carsten Linnemann, the CDU's Secretary General, announced his intention to lodge an appeal against the district court's decision, citing Maaßen's continued violation of the party's rules and principles as a reason.
- The 67-page letter of complaint, which was made available to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, states that Maaßen's exclusion from the CDU is "politically imperative and legally permissible and necessary".
- In the letter of appeal, the federal CDU criticized the district court's decision to restore Maaßen's membership rights, stating that he has "continued to violate the rules and principles of the CDU" and has become "politically and ideologically radicalized", aligning more with the AfD's worldview than the CDU's.
Source: www.stern.de
