AfD on democracy and the state

The AfD wants to bar members of the state government from also sitting in the state parliament. It argues that the separation of powers requires parliament and government to be staffed by different people.

The AfD wants a stricter split between government and parliament. People in the government should not be lawmakers at the same time. This applies to the state premier, ministers and state secretaries. The AfD says the branches of the state can then check each other better.

The platform defines the separation of powers as an institutional and personal split between lawmaking, government and the courts. From this it concludes that the state premier, ministers and state secretaries must not hold a seat in the state parliament. The AfD says the same rule should apply at the federal level. It points to other democracies that already work this way.

The AfD wants to detach the judiciary from the executive and let it govern itself. Judges and prosecutors would no longer be hired by the justice ministry, and prosecutors would no longer take instructions. The party also calls for considerably more staff and modern technology for the courts.

The AfD wants the courts to be more independent of the government. The justice system should decide for itself whom to hire and promote. Prosecutors should no longer get orders from the minister. Courts should get more staff and better technology. Cases should then move faster.

According to the platform, the justice minister is part of the government and currently has a say in selecting and promoting judges, which the AfD sees as a breach of the separation of powers. In the future, hiring and the filling of senior posts at courts and prosecutors' offices would be decided through procedures within the judiciary. Prosecutors would be independent like judges and would generally not have to report to the minister. The AfD also demands more judges, prosecutors and administrative staff, fast internet and expanded electronic court filing. This is meant to shorten proceedings substantially.

The AfD wants to make it a criminal offense to hand out public-sector jobs based on political ties. The new offense is meant to protect those passed over and, above all, to target the officials who make such hiring decisions.

Some public jobs go to political friends. The AfD wants to punish this. It wants a new criminal law for it. The law should mainly hit the people who decide.

The platform cites the Basic Law, under which public offices must be awarded by aptitude, qualifications and performance. In the AfD's view, this merit principle is violated at every level of public administration. It considers lawsuits by rejected applicants before the administrative courts to be often ineffective. It therefore wants a dedicated criminal offense aimed at the decision-makers.

The AfD wants to scrap the legal status of 'political civil servant' in Hesse without replacement. It objects that top officials can be appointed and sent into paid retirement without any reason given, and it considers their pension entitlements fiscally indefensible.

The government can appoint and remove some top officials without giving a reason. They still get money from the state afterwards. These officials are called political civil servants. The AfD wants to end this rule in Hesse. It says civil servants should be neutral and loyal.

According to the platform, this would affect heads of regional administrations and police chiefs, among others. The AfD criticizes that many such officials are replaced when governments change and then keep lifelong pension entitlements. It sees this as providing for politicians at the taxpayer's expense. Its model is the politically neutral, loyal career civil servant. The head of the state domestic intelligence office should likewise not be a political civil servant.

The AfD wants voters to be able to influence the order of candidates on the parties' statewide lists. Instead of fixed lists, there would be open-list voting in which several votes can be stacked on one candidate.

In state elections, parties set the order of their candidates. The AfD wants to change that. Voters should help decide who is at the top of the list. They should be able to give one candidate several votes.

The platform criticizes party-determined lists for narrowing voters' freedom of choice. The AfD points to its basic program and to its own 2020 bill on federal election law, which included open lists. It expects more voter influence to raise turnout and reduce frustration with parties. It also complains that the Basic Law has no provision for referendums at the federal level.

The AfD wants to introduce digital referendums in Hesse to strengthen direct participation. Citizens would sign in with their ID card number and vote along the lines of the Swiss model.

The AfD wants citizens to be able to vote online. They enter the number of their ID card to do so. Switzerland is the model. This should give citizens more say.

The platform sees digitalization as the path to more direct democracy. Apart from the ID number, access should have no major hurdles. The votes should be secured against abuse.