Court reverses mass rejection of AfD political candidates' applications
In a recent ruling, the Administrative Court of Stuttgart has ordered the Heilbronn district to re-enact its list of honorary judges for the Administrative Court of Stuttgart. The decision comes after the Heilbronn district council arbitrarily rejected all AfD (Alternative for Germany) candidates for the new term from 2025 to 2030.
The court's decision states that the individual suitability of the proposed persons is decisive, not proportional representation of the parties. It clarified that a blanket rejection of an entire list without regard for the proposed persons violates the principle of equality.
The Heilbronn district council, in its initial vote, rejected all seven AfD applicants, but the council did not vote on the individuals but only on the origin of the list, making the exclusion arbitrary. The court ruled that every German has the right to equal access to public offices, which requires an examination of individual applicants.
The court also determined that a political body, such as the AfD faction in the Heilbronn district council, does not have a constitutional claim to access to a public office. However, the ruling does not affect the appointment of candidates nominated by other factions in the Heilbronn district council.
The council currently has the Free Voters as the strongest faction with 23 seats, followed by the CDU with 20 seats, the AfD with 12 seats, the SPD with 10 seats, the Greens with 9 seats, the FDP with four seats, the Ecological Democratic Party with two seats, and the Left Party with one seat.
The vote was preceded by a debate in the administrative committee about voting separately on the AfD list. An AfD member of the district council successfully applied for an urgent application to re-enact the list. The court found that the procedure used by the Heilbronn district council to re-enact its list of honorary judges violated the constitution.
The district of Heilbronn has two weeks to appeal against the decision to the Higher Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg. The court's ruling does not address the debate in the administrative committee about voting separately on the AfD list.
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