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Feldkirchen (dpa / lby) - After internal disputes at the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), there was a surprise in the new election.
The CSU member of the state parliament Ernst Weidenbusch was elected as the new hunting president.
He is replacing Jürgen Vocke, who headed the influential association for a quarter of a century and is currently under criminal investigation.
The 57-year-old Weidenbusch was able to assert himself as a representative of the “Team Future BJV” in the postal vote against the long-time hunting association official Thomas Schreder.
The 54-year-old Schreder was previously Vice President and most recently had also temporarily led the association.
As the BJV election officer reported on Friday evening after a ten-hour count in Feldkirchen (district of Munich), Weidenbusch received 405 votes.
Schreder got 291 votes.
Because of the pandemic, the BJV had to cancel both the Landesjägertag in March in Lindau and a replacement event in October in Nuremberg this year.
This resulted in postal voting.
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Weidenbusch said he was not surprised by his clear election victory.
The future team spoke to many district groups at the association.
“It's the choice of a team,” he emphasized.
Most of the other candidates in the group would also have received the presidium posts for which they applied.
In fact, the “Team Future” did not want to start the race with the lawyer from the Munich district at the top.
First, the free-voter-politician Roland Weigert ran for president.
But Weigert, as State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, had to withdraw his application under pressure from Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
Söder had made it clear that, given the challenges of the Corona crisis, his cabinet members should not hold such top positions in associations.
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The “Team Zukunft” then nominated Weidenbusch.
Weigert resigned a number and ran for Vice President, which he is allowed to do as a member of the government.
In the postal vote, Weigert was now also elected one of the three deputy bosses.
In addition, the state treasurer, two assessors and the legal advisor were elected.
The BJV represents 158 district groups and hunting clubs with around 50,000 members in the Free State.
About a year ago there had been a violent internal argument after allegations of financial irregularities against the previous President Vocke.
An association member had launched an investigation against the former tax judge with a complaint.
The public prosecutor's office then had the state office searched and Vocke suspended his office.
According to the investigators, the criminal proceedings concern private expenses, the company car and the employment of Vocke's daughter at a company affiliated with the BJV.
As a spokeswoman for the Munich I public prosecutor reported, the proceedings have not yet been concluded.
The 77-year-old Vocke also sat for the CSU for ten years in the Maximilianeum.
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Because of the investigation, the BJV members had spoken out in favor of a new election of all presidium representatives in order to enable a new start.
The “Team Future” was formed in order to set up a promising candidate to oppose the longtime functionary Schreder.
Now it is a matter of uniting the association, said the new President Weidenbusch after his election.
Candidates for the Presidium of the Hunting Association
Team future