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Anton Baron, leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg

Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa

In the dispute over the composition of a committee at the state center for political education, the AfD parliamentary group failed with a lawsuit before the Constitutional Court of Baden-Württemberg. The AfD's application will be rejected, said Malte Graßhof, president of the court, in Stuttgart. The state parliament's repeated failure to elect AfD candidates for the board of trustees of the state headquarters does not violate the right to equal treatment of the parliamentary groups, said Graßhof.

The AfD faction in the state parliament, which has been trying for a long time to send a representative to the board of trustees of the state center for political education, had sued. However, the faction fails again and again due to the resistance of the other factions in the state parliament, who let the AfD candidates fail every time.

In the November hearing, the AfD argued that rejecting the candidates would violate their right to equal treatment as a parliamentary minority. The state parliament, in turn, took the position that the principle of equal treatment did not apply to the board of trustees because it was an extra-parliamentary body. There is no parliamentary work taking place there. The right to equal opportunities is also limited to the right to make proposals, and this has been granted again and again.

The state headquarters, founded in 2013, is intended to promote and deepen political education in the state on a non-partisan basis. The fact that it works in a non-partisan manner should be ensured by its board of trustees. This consists of 24 members, including 17 members of the state parliament in Stuttgart. These are appointed at the suggestion of the state parliament. Each faction was able to propose candidates based on their strengths. However, the candidates proposed by the AfD did not receive a majority in the state parliament. The board of trustees of the state headquarters was constituted in 2021 without any candidates proposed by the AfD.

czl/dpa/AFP