The opposition in the Schwerin state parliament has raised allegations of nepotism over the employment of relatives of SPD deputies by party friends. “The nepotism allegations against the AfD in Saxony‑Anhalt are serious, but there is nothing in them that we don’t already know about the SPD in Mecklenburg‑Western Pomerania” said CDU state chairman Daniel Peters in an interview with the FAZ (Saturday edition).
“How many familial and political overlaps do we need before we have to talk about structural self‑service?” asked FDP state‑parliament member David Wulff. He said that for many citizens a picture of an SPD saga has already emerged, in which control and critical distance have been lost.
In Mecklenburg‑Western Pomerania there are several cases in which relatives are employed by SPD‑party friends. According to the report, one SPD member of the Bundestag allegedly hired the wife of an SPD state‑parliament member to work in his constituency office – the very building that also houses the deputy’s own office. In another instance, the wife of a different state‑parliament member is said to serve as office manager for an SPD district council. The mother of yet another state‑parliament member reportedly works for a fellow caucus colleague. Critics have long pointed out that the SPD also holds major events on a manor farm that belongs to the husband of a prominent SPD state‑parliament member.
The state government spokesperson told the FAZ that there should be no hiring or employment ban in the public service for relatives of politicians. He insisted that in none of the cases mentioned is there an interest conflict, nor has anyone been employed solely because they are a relative of a politician.