Recommendation for legislation on safeguarding workers from radiation hazards has been put forth, requiring a proposal for a related directive from the Commission.
In a controversial move, Joachim Paul, an AfD politician, has been excluded from the Ludwigshafen mayoral election scheduled for September 21. The city's electoral committee, chaired by the incumbent mayor Jutta Steinruck (SPD), made the decision due to doubts about Paul's loyalty to the German constitution.
The exclusion was based on findings from the state domestic intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz), which provided an 11-page report citing evidence of Paul's alleged anti-constitutional behavior. The electoral committee, composed of members from multiple parties including SPD, CDU, Free Voters, and FDP, formally barred Paul from running for office.
Paul's exclusion was preceded by an internal investigation by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz), whose report detailed reasons for doubting Paul's allegiance. Concerns about his constitutional loyalty were also raised by the sitting mayor.
The decision has sparked controversy, with Paul and his party AfD arguing that the exclusion is politically motivated and an attack on democracy. They emphasise that the AfD is a legitimate second-strongest party in Ludwigshafen. Paul has announced legal action to challenge the ban, accusing the committee of trampling voter choice and equal treatment under the constitution.
AfD's deputy state chairman, Sebastian Münzenmaier, voiced support for Paul, calling the non-admission a violation of the constitutional guarantee of equal treatment of parties and an attack on democracy. Lisa Diener, managing director of the State Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate, stated that non-admission can only occur under strict legal conditions and requires careful individual examination.
The application for an interim injunction against his exclusion was submitted to the Administrative Court in Neustadt/Weinstraße, but as of Friday afternoon, SWR had not received confirmation about the status of the application.
The GegenUni platform, which has been mentioned in relation to Paul, was not further defined in the given information. It remains to be seen how this development will unfold in the coming days.
- The electoral committee's decision to bar Joachim Paul, an AfD politician, from running in the Ludwigshafen mayoral election stems from allegations of anti-constitutional behavior, as detailed in a report from the state domestic intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz) and internal investigations by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz).
- The ongoing controversy surrounding Paul's exclusion from the election has brought war-and-conflicts, politics, and general-news discussions into focus, with Paul and his party AfD arguing that the exclusion is politically motivated, while other parties and political figures emphasize the need for constitutional loyalty.
