Overview
- The AfD faction in Saxony-Anhalt voted 20–1 to remove Lieschke with immediate effect after he failed to counter accusations of severe party- and faction-damaging behavior.
- Press reports say the core allegation involves a covert audio recording of a December videoconference of district leaders that was subsequently forwarded.
- Journalists note that secretly recording such a meeting can be a criminal offense under German law.
- Lieschke, a Wittenberg district chair and until recently the state treasurer, holds the party’s list position 20 for the 6 September election and has not publicly responded.
- Separate exclusion proceedings against Bundestag member Jan Wenzel Schmidt continue, with Schmidt threatening to reveal alleged travel-cost fraud and the hiring of relatives as the party leads polls ahead of the vote.