Berlin (AFP) – BMW has withdrawn an offer to lease a car to a politician from the far-right AfD party who was elected to a top post in a regional German parliament, officials said Friday. Tobias Rausch this week became the first member of a far-right party to become a parliament speaker in a regional legislature since World War II, when he was elected to the post in Saxony-Anhalt. It followed the AfD’s crushing victory in the state in former communist East Germany last month, which saw it soundly defeat the centre-right CDU of the unpopular Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
BMW usually leases official cars for use by top members of the state parliament, including the speaker. But a spokeswoman for the legislature told AFP the premium carmaker withdrew the offer for the speaker on Tuesday, the day Rausch was elected to the post. BMW declined to confirm the move, saying it did not usually comment on relations with its customers.
But in a letter to BMW’s board published in the weekly Die Zeit, which first reported the withdrawal, Rausch made his unhappiness clear. “In future, will a person’s political conviction determine whether a German company maintains business relations with them?” he wrote.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD leader in Saxony Anhalt who is aiming to become state premier in December, took to X to accuse BMW of having “little time for democracy.” He posted a picture of himself on a vintage Simson scooter, an icon of the former communist East Germany, which he was regularly seen riding in the election campaign. “I’ll be heading to the state chancellery in December with the one who’s faithfully accompanied me through the election campaign too,” he wrote.
Beatrix von Storch, an AfD lawmaker in the national parliament, appealed to Tesla owner Elon Musk — a vocal supporter of the far-right party — to step in. “Would Tesla be willing to provide him with an official car?” she posted on the Musk-owned platform X.
© 2024 AFP
