Politics · Germany · 5 hrs ago
Berlin CDU plans to back AfD candidate for Reinickendorf deputy mayor
Five weeks after Berlin’s election, district officials are due to be chosen on Thursday.
Reinickendorf’s CDU majority plans to elect AfD member Thomas Ruschin as deputy mayor and district councillor.
Ruschin is a lawyer who left the CDU for the AfD in 2020.
Reinickendorf’s CDU leader, Marvin Schulz, says the AfD won 18% of the vote there and should have a candidate in the district administration.
He argues that leaving posts vacant makes the district’s work less efficient.
Other Berlin districts are expected to reject their AfD candidates, as most did in the previous term.
CDU leaders say the planned vote does not mean cooperation, a coalition or agreements with the AfD, and the election is due on Thursday.
Berlin’s CDU majority plans to support AfD candidate Thomas Ruschin for deputy mayor and a district councillor post in Reinickendorf.
CDU district leader Marvin Schulz says the party is respecting the AfD’s legal entitlement to nominate a candidate after winning 18 percent of the vote.
Schulz says he wants policy-based decisions rather than party bloc politics and argues that leaving posts vacant causes inefficiency.
Former SPD district leader Jörg Stroedter says the plan would break the political “firewall” against the AfD.
Schulz and Berlin CDU secretary-general Lukas Krieger say the move does not involve cooperation, coalition-building or agreements with the AfD.
- Who
- The Reinickendorf CDU majority plans to back AfD candidate Thomas Ruschin.
- What
- The CDU plans to support Ruschin for deputy mayor and a district councillor post.
- When
- The vote is planned for Thursday, five weeks after the Berlin election.
- Where
- Reinickendorf, one of Berlin’s 12 districts.
- Why
- CDU district leader Marvin Schulz says the AfD won 18 percent of the vote and has a legal entitlement to a candidate on the district administration. He also says leaving posts vacant causes inefficiency.
Reinickendorf CDU leader Marvin Schulz
Former SPD district leader Jörg Stroedter
Political meaning
Reinickendorf CDU leader Marvin Schulz
Schulz says supporting the candidate respects the voters’ decision and does not amount to cooperation with the AfD.
Former SPD district leader Jörg Stroedter
Stroedter says the plan would break the political firewall against the AfD.
Approach
Reinickendorf CDU leader Marvin Schulz
Schulz says he wants policy-based decisions rather than party bloc politics.
Former SPD district leader Jörg Stroedter
Stroedter condemns the plan and says CDU members who support it should leave the party.
AfD candidates were entitled to posts in four Berlin districts, but only one won a post, in Treptow-Köpenick, in the fourth round of voting.
The first politicians are due to be elected to posts, beginning at the district level.
Reinickendorf is due to vote on the first district appointments, including the proposed AfD candidate for deputy mayor.
- District
- Reinickendorf, one of Berlin’s 12 districts
- Population
- 258,000
- AfD vote share
- 18 percent in Reinickendorf
- Candidate
- Thomas Ruschin, 53; a lawyer who switched from the CDU to the AfD in 2020
- Planned posts
- Deputy mayor and district councillor
- Planned vote
- Thursday, five weeks after the Berlin election
What people are saying
The political system in Germany is inefficient and is breaking down. We have now decided to pursue policy-based politics instead of bloc politics.
Since the AfD won 18 percent of the votes in Reinickendorf, it has a legal entitlement to a candidate in the district administration – we take that seriously as a party committed to the rule of law.
Then the firewall falls! If party leader Friedrich Merz wants to remain credible, these people no longer belong in the CDU.
For the CDU, there is no cooperation with the AfD and none with the radicalized Left Party. No arrangements, no joint strategies, no agreements on forming majorities.