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Erfurt (AP) - The former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, wants to move into the Bundestag for the CDU in September.
He wanted to run for constituency 196 in southern Thuringia, Maaßen confirmed on dpa request.
In this constituency, Mark Hauptmann, who has since left the party, was elected in the 2017 federal election.
The Thuringian CDU initially gave no statement.
The «Bild» newspaper had previously reported that the CDU district association Schmalkalden-Meiningen wanted to nominate Maassen as a candidate for the Bundestag and decided to do so on Wednesday evening.
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As President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Maassen came under massive criticism at the time because he had doubted that foreigners would be “hunted down” after the killing of a German in Chemnitz.
In November 2018, Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) put him into temporary retirement.
An investigation by the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Thuringia is ongoing against Hauptmann in the Union's mask affair on suspicion of bribery of elected officials.
The 36-year-old resigned from the Bundestag before leaving the party.
The Erfurt CDU politician Kristina Nordt has moved up for him in the Bundestag for the rest of the legislative period.
Hauptmann is accused of having brokered corona protective masks and of having received a commission from a Frankfurt company.
According to the investigative authority, the Thuringian Higher Regional Court has imposed a so-called asset arrest in the amount of 997,000 euros against Hauptmann in connection with the business.
This is to ensure that the money is not lost.
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Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil reacted in disbelief to the news of Maassen's candidacy.
The SPD politician tweeted to the address of CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak and party leader Armin Laschet: "This is definitely a very bad April Fool's joke - or ????!"
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