The CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania accuses the SPD of nepotism – which defends itself

CDU state leader Daniel Peters told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “The accusations of nepotism at the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt are serious, but there is nothing there that we don’t know from the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.” The The SPD rejected such a comparison.

The topic came up with a view to the AfD. In recent days, more and more cases have become known nationwide in which family members of AfD politicians were employed by other AfD MPs. In particular, several cases from Saxony-Anhalt – there are also state elections coming up in the fall – had caused a stir.

“Simply outrageous”

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a red-red coalition governs under the leadership of Prime Minister Schwesig, who is running again in the state elections in the fall. SPD General Secretary Barlen said the comparison drawn by CDU politician Peters between the SPD and the AfD as “simply outrageous“.

“We have neither cross-employment with resulting dependencies nor any cases of nepotism,” says Barlen. There are clear rules for hiring employees. Suitability and qualifications are crucial.

Media report on employment relationships

In its article, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” gave several examples of the employment relationships mentioned. Accordingly For example, the SPD member of the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Frank Junge, is concernedin his constituency office in Wismar the wife of an SPD member of the state parliament.

Junge confirmed to the dpa that the wife in question was employed, but called the allegations made “baseless and fabricated”. She was “demonstrably excellently qualified and was hired solely on the basis of suitability and competence. The attempt to construct nepotism out of this has no factual basis,” he said.

In addition, the mother of the head of the State Chancellery and SPD member of the state parliament, Patrick Dahlemann, worked for a former SPD member of the Bundestag. Dahlemann’s mother now works for an SPD member of the state parliament. When asked by the dpa, Dahlemann explained: “My mother is not employed by me. There can be no professional ban because I am politically active.”

A government spokesman said: “More than 35,000 people work in the state administration. All of the personal details listed in the article have been publicly known for a long time.” There should be no ban on hiring or working in the public service for family members of politicians. “In no case are there any conflicts of interest. And in no case was anyone hired because he or she was a family member of a politician.”

However, the CDU does not consider the processes to be clean. The general secretary of the CDU regional association in MV, Katy Hoffmeister, told the dpa: “If political staging and personal closeness intertwine over the years, at some point a strange constellation arises.” The decisive factor is not whether something is formally permissible, but whether it meets the requirement for transparency and a clear separation of roles.