"Impostor affair" Convention reprimands candidates, list remains
The AfD has reprimanded two of its candidates for the European elections for providing inaccurate information in their CVs. A party convention discussed the allegations against them in detail, according to a party statement on Sunday evening. The two people concerned were present and questioned. "The convention criticizes the inaccuracies found in the candidates' self-presentation during the nomination meeting, but considers the accusation of deliberate deception made in some cases to be unfounded."
The two candidates Arno Bausemer and Mary Khan-Hohloch made the headlines in the so-called impostor affair - due to allegedly false information on professional and academic qualifications in their CVs. The allegations were confirmed in an internal AfD audit. The party leadership then decided that neither of them should be allowed to hold any internal party offices for two years. However, the list of candidates for the 2024 European elections, including Bausemer (Saxony-Anhalt, list position 10) and Khan-Hohloch (Brandenburg, list position 14), was retained. The party base, on the other hand, called for them not to be allowed to enter the EU Parliament for the AfD and for the list of candidates to be repeated if necessary.
The convention has now decided against this. According to the statement, any "retrospective intervention" in the democratically elected list should be avoided "also with regard to the legal certainty of participation in elections and approval of the AfD list".
Representatives from the federal party and the state associations met in Barleben near Magdeburg for the consultations, according to information from the German Press Agency.
The convention at Barleben criticized the Parties Arno Bausemer and Mary Khan-Hohloch for inaccuracies in their CVs during the nomination process, but decided against stripping them from the 2024 European elections list due to concerns over retrospective intervention and legal certainty. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been in the spotlight for the 'impostor affair' involving these two candidates, who have been accused of providing false information on their professional and academic qualifications.
Source: www.dpa.com
