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The AfD appoints a mayor in Germany for the first time. In the election of the new city leader in Pirna, Saxony, AfD candidate Tim Lochner (53) had the upper hand over two competitors in the second round of voting on Sunday, according to preliminary results. Lochner received 38.54 percent of the votes, gaining the necessary simple majority. While the AfD leadership celebrated the “historic result”, the Greens in Saxony expressed their “dismay”.
Lochner is a member of the AfD faction in the city council, but is not a party member himself. He runs a carpentry workshop. Lochner already ran in the mayoral elections in 2017, but clearly failed against the previous incumbent Klaus-Peter Hanke (independent), who did not run again in the current elections due to his age. Lochner had the upper hand on Sunday over the CDU candidate and a candidate from the Free Voters.
Weidel congratulates
“Thank you to the many voters who made this historic result possible for the AfD,” AfD leader Alice Weidel (44) wrote on the online service “Citizens of Pirna well represented.”
The Greens expressed their concerns. “We are appalled by the election of a mayor from a party that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as right-wing extremist last week,” the Saxon State Association of the Greens wrote about strengthening.
Left-wing politician Clara Bünger (37) expressed her shock on X: “Advent, Advent, democracy is on fire,” she wrote. “A mayor who stood as a candidate for the AfD, which was recently classified as ‘definitely right-wing extremist’ in Saxony. All democratic parties must now act together. Civil society in Pirna needs support.”
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is investigating
Last week, the Saxon Constitution Protection Office classified the AfD in the Free State as definitively right-wing extremist. After Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, the Saxon AfD is already the third state association with such a classification.
The classification means that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can use secret service resources without restrictions to obtain information about extremist activities of the regional association.
CDU defeated
Lochner had already received the most votes in the first round of voting on November 26 with almost 33 percent. Ralf Thiele of the Free Voters came second with about 23 percent, while CDU candidate Kathrin Dollinger-Knuth was in third place with about 20 percent. Because none of the five candidates achieved the required absolute majority, a second round of voting was necessary.
Two defeated candidates, the individual candidate André Liebscher and the social democrat Ralf Wätzig, who was supported by the SPD and the Greens, decided not to run for the CDU candidate again. The left also supported Dollinger-Knuth in the second vote. She now came in second place with 31.39 percent, ahead of Thiele with 30.08 percent.
Turnout in the elections on Sunday was 53.8 percent, after 50.38 percent in the first round. The mayor’s term of office is seven years. In total, approximately 31,700 eligible voters were called to vote for the new city leader.
Second local AfD top post
This means that the AfD now holds two top municipal positions across Germany. In June, AfD politician Robert Sesselmann won a district executive position for the party in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg for the first time.
The AfD had previously tried to push its candidates through in mayoral elections in other cities. However, so far it has failed at the latest in the second voting round or in the second election round.
Pirna, located southeast of Dresden on the edge of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, has about 40,000 inhabitants. The city is best known for its almost original old town and its proximity to the tourist area of Saxon Switzerland. (AFP/kes)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
