Budget speech: AfD

Dear Mr Mayor Kerkhoff
esteemed members of the administration,
Dear city councillors and representatives of the press,
Dear listeners and guests

I was elected to political office for the first time in 2020 and I had great respect for what awaited me. I was immediately pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness and fairness of many employees of the city administration. My questions, and there were quite a few, were always answered in a friendly, competent and detailed manner. Many thanks for that, especially to Mrs Wissing and Mr Mecking.

Things were different here in the city council, however, and my great respect from 2020 quickly vanished into thin air. Why? Councillors are elected and should represent the interests of their voters. But let's be honest! Where were you all when it came to Biemenhorst? Or on the subject of coronavirus during the Monday walks?

I didn't see a single city councillor at the citizens' meetings in Biemenhorst or at the Monday walks. You don't seem to care about the legitimate concerns and fears of your constituents during Corona, during the eroding "Internal Security" and in times of housing shortages, inflated energy prices, inflation, the threat of war and constantly rising taxes and rents.

Where is their sensitivity, their responsibility and their humanity from the "Bocholt Declaration" when it comes to their own voters? They also don't seem to care about the budget and control rights of the council and even if the audit and legal departments raise concerns, if specialists and experts advise against it and hardly any other city in NRW decides on high-quality direct awards.... EGAL !

Here in Bocholt, this is possible because the council authorises it. It doesn't help much if the SPD wants to put a ban on pianos. And as if that wasn't bad enough. The Bocholt council suddenly becomes active when it can restrict basic rights.

Article 5 of the Basic Law states that censorship does not take place.

As a reminder: censorship is the influencing of public opinion in such a way that a possible contribution to the process of opinion formation is withdrawn from the public by an intervening authority. And this intervening authority is all of you here in the Council. You have all recently agreed to the censorship of a protocol, thereby showing an undemocratic face quite openly for a brief moment.

Now to you, Mr Mayor Kerkhoff.

In your HH speech, you slip into the role of Gretchen from Goethe's Faust and rant against the AfD like the mob on the street. In the meantime, however, reality has caught up with you and the CDU. You get to taste your own medicine and that is sometimes very instructive. And to Gretchen...

Do you know what I dread, Mr Kerkhoff?

I dread a mayor who doesn't take his duty of neutrality as the head of an authority seriously enough and promotes a radical left-wing demonstration and even actively participates in this demonstration as a speaker. I dread a mayor who employs staff in his authority to advise those obliged to leave the country on naturalisation issues. I dread mayors who allow the district to give away tens of millions of euros (keyword: the district's grant report) and who immediately sink most of this money into personnel costs for the recipients, while at the same time increasing the district levy by more than 5 million euros.

In view of Bocholt's financial situation, this is reckless and irresponsible.

And dear Mrs Schlaghecken: I completely agree with you that the main reason for the constantly rising district levy is certainly the increasingly shameless levies of the regional associations and the escalating personnel costs, but also the gifts of money from the district, which are often justified with the promotion of the public interest and the promotion of democracy.

However, US Vice President J.D. Vance recently clearly showed us where this promotion of democracy leads us. And so once again: in my view, what is being promoted here is not democracy or the public interest. What is being promoted are woke and colourful organisations, amigos and minions. The "Deep State" also exists here.

I dread a mayor who negligently plays with the security of local politicians and dismisses the security service, even though there are serious security warnings from the Ministry of the Interior and the State Office of Criminal Investigation. I dread a mayor who makes fun of others and only speaks of a concrete threat when he himself is affected. So, I'm almost finished!

Some of you go straight back home and elevate yourselves by defaming innocent citizens as Nazis, right-wingers and brown swamps. That says a lot about you and nothing at all about the insulted people.

You please yourself in your role as a demure and morally elevated guardian and defender of the democratic centre. The more you denigrate others, the better you look yourself. You think! But! There's an old saying: "Don't be afraid of witches. Be afraid of those who burn them." You are not the democratic centre as you claim over and over again, far too often and far too loudly. They are themselves the radical fringe of our democracy.

And just like in America, here in Germany many of the lavishly financed red-green zeitgeist will soon have to face up to the real world of work and a fair income. And believe me, I can hardly wait.

Thank you very much for listening.