The populist, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) presents itself as anti-establishment and a defender of ordinary people. Yet the party now faces growing criticism over the employment of relatives and associates, a practice opponents label nepotism.
AfD politicians were quick to accuse other parties of nepotism when former Green Economy Minister Robert Habeck hired friends or family members for his staff in 2023. Now similar allegations are being leveled at AfD members themselves. In Saxony-Anhalt, several AfD state and federal parliamentarians are reported to have employed relatives in the offices of party colleagues. Media outlets, including public broadcaster ZDF, say some of those relatives have received substantial salaries paid from state funds.
The spotlight is on Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate for the September state election in Saxony-Anhalt, where polls put the party around 40%. Siegmund aims to lead the state government if his party wins, which would make him the first right-wing extremist to head a German state government since World War II. Reports say Siegmund’s father was hired in a Bundestag member’s office with a salary approaching €100,000 a year. Siegmund defends the hire, saying trustworthy staff are hard to find. Legally, members of parliament may not hire their own relatives but can employ relatives of other MPs, so the arrangement is not prohibited.
Accusations have also emerged from within the AfD. An MEP has alleged secretive dealings and self-enrichment in the party’s Lower Saxony regional association, which Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, recently classified as right-wing extremist. Media reports also say the wife of Lower Saxony regional chairman Ansgar Schledde works in an AfD Bundestag office.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly criticized the AfD’s practices, telling newspapers of the Neue Berliner Redaktionsgesellschaft and the Rheinpfalz that while he would prefer to avoid new legal rules, the extent of the abuse might make regulation unavoidable. Merz accused the AfD of “cronyism and nepotism” and urged that the party be confronted with its actual behavior.
Political scientist Alexander Hensel of the University of Göttingen says the nepotism allegations are significant not only because critics from outside the party are raising them, but because the party’s most radical wing and its supporters are also attacking colleagues. That internal criticism could intensify divisions. One prominent internal critic is Thuringia state leader Björn Höcke, who has warned on social media that the party could be undone from within. Hensel interprets Höcke’s attacks as a bid by the radical right to portray Saxony-Anhalt party leaders as having sold out to the corrupt system the AfD claims to oppose, thereby strengthening the party’s extreme wing.
The nepotism controversy comes amid a string of other troubles for the AfD:
– An AfD MEP has accused the Lower Saxony regional association of secret dealings and self-enrichment.
– Bundestag President Julia Klöckner has permanently barred seven AfD employees from the Bundestag for security reasons; some have prior convictions for incitement to hatred, resisting police, or weapons offenses.
– Some AfD officials have reached out to Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner, a move many in the party view as too extreme.
– An AfD member of the Bavarian state parliament was heavily fined in February 2026 for money laundering and coercion.
– A former AfD Bundestag member is among the accused in a criminal trial over a suspected terrorist organization.
AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla admitted on public broadcaster ARD that the hiring practices in Saxony-Anhalt leave a “bad taste.” Party co-chairs Chrupalla and Alice Weidel have faced criticism for weak leadership. Hensel says their ability to manage the situation is limited, particularly in an election year when the party has much at stake and cannot risk a major internal rift.
Hensel warns the nepotism scandal could damage the AfD’s core populist appeal. The party’s self-portrayal as an alternative to the established parties is threatened when its own critics accuse it of the very corrupt behavior it attacks. The scandal’s resonance both inside and outside the AfD gives it the potential to inflict real political harm.
This article was originally written in German. It was first published on February 11 and was later updated to reflect new developments.
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