Because of rising accusations of cronyism against senior AfD officials, the Thuringian state chair Stefan Möller has called for stricter conduct rules. “Our claim-ever since the party’s founding-which is that we conduct ourselves cleaner than other parties” said the Bundestag member to “Stern”. “Even when the employment is legal, it still undermines our credibility”.
In recent weeks it emerged that several AfD Bundestag and state‑parliament members from Saxony‑Anhalt had hired relatives of other parliamentarians within the state party. The group includes Ulrich Siegmund, the top candidate for the state parliament.
“The large‑scale cross‑employment issue goes beyond Saxony‑Anhalt” Möller told the paper, reminding that he has co‑led the Thuringian AfD with Björn Höcke since 2014. He said the federal party must therefore “resolve the problem overall” ideally by amending the party constitution at the next federal delegates’ meeting. From his view, a constitutional change would give MPs clear boundaries: “Then it would be clear what is allowed and what is not”. The AfD federal conference is scheduled for early July in Erfurt.