Die Autonomen in Wuppertal unterstützen einen CDU-Politiker. Wie konnte das denn passieren? Es handelt sich um keinen gewöhnlichen CDU-Politiker, sondern um einen Prominenten mit Vorgeschichte. Thomas Haldenwang war bis Anfang der Woche noch Deutschlands oberster Verfassungshüter. Seine Aufgabe war es, vor den Feinden der Demokratie zu warnen. Besonders eindringlich tat er das bei der AfD. In den Augen einiger war Haldenwang deswegen schon als Verfassungsschutzchef zu politisch. Und jetzt will er ganz offen Politik machen, als Bundestagsabgeordneter der CDU im Wahlkreis Wuppertal I.
Die Autonomen finden: „Seine geheimdienstliche Expertise zu Antisemitismus und islamistischen Strukturen (…) macht uns vorsichtig optimistisch.“ Andere glauben, dass genau diese Expertise nichts im Bundestag verloren hat, vor allem, wenn der Übergang so nahtlos ist. Zum Jahresende wird Haldenwang von Bundesinnenministerin Nancy Faeser (SPD) seine Entlassungsurkunde bekommen. Und dann am 23. Februar in den Bundestag gewählt und neben jenen Abgeordneten sitzen, die von der Behörde genau unter die Lupe genommen werden, der er bis vor Kurzem vorstand?
Es fing alles harmlos an. Ein Wuppertaler Parteifreund, so schildert es Haldenwang im Gespräch mit der F.A.Z., habe ihn im Oktober angesprochen: Ob er nicht bei der Bundestagswahl im September 2025 kandidieren wolle? Haldenwang ist in der Stadt geboren und seit Jahren CDU-Mitglied, aber nicht weiter engagiert. Es war bekannt, dass er Ende des Jahres aus dem Amt scheiden wollte. Aus gesundheitlichen Gründen, so hieß es. Aber irgendetwas machen wollte Haldenwang schon. Nach dem Gespräch mit dem Wuppertaler Parteifreund überlegte er ein paar Tage – und sagte zu.
„Ich habe das Recht, für den Bundestag zu kandidieren“
Dann zerbrach die Ampelkoalition. Haldenwang sagt, ihm sei klar gewesen, dass er nun schnell handeln müsse, um den Eindruck einer Interessenskollision zu vermeiden. Und schneller habe er nicht handeln können. Am Montag teilte er seine Pläne Innenministerin Faeser mit. Man sei sich einig gewesen, dass er schon am Dienstag die Amtsgeschäfte niederlegen müsse. So hat es Faeser dem Innenausschuss am Mittwoch auch mitgeteilt, verknüpft mit ein paar netten Worten, aber auch der Mahnung, beide Tätigkeiten seien klar voneinander zu trennen. Seither feiert Haldenwang seinen Resturlaub ab.
He doesn't see a problem in his seamless transition. “I carried out my official duties neutrally. I have fulfilled my duties according to law and order.” The AfD has repeatedly complained against the assessments by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution – without success. “I have the right to run for the Bundestag,” says Haldenwang. “I want to contribute my experience. But of course official secrets must not play a role.” The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has very limited information about individual MPs anyway.
No one was informed in advance in the Konrad Adenauer House
Elsewhere you're not quite as relaxed. In the Konrad Adenauer House, the FAZ learned from CDU circles, they were not informed in advance that the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would be drawn to the Bundestag. Accordingly, neither Haldenwang himself contacted the highest party leadership nor anyone from the Wuppertal CDU.
It would have been easy for Haldenwang to let CDU leader Friedrich Merz or general secretary Carsten Linnemann know his plans at an early stage, especially since both – like him – belong to the North Rhine-Westphalia regional association. He didn't. This can be seen as an indication that he suspected how little enthusiasm he would cause in the Adenauer house. The North Rhine-Westphalia regional association only found out about Haldenwang's plan a few days before it became known.
Nobody at the CDU party headquarters wants to comment publicly. It is said that individual candidacies are not commented on. On the one hand, there are fundamental reasons for this. There should not even be the slightest suspicion that the party leadership in Berlin is interfering when the district associations select their candidates. One person speaks of a “high mass” for the party. But there are also concrete reasons.
The CDU is a burned child because of Maaßen
The CDU is a burnt child when it comes to the political commitment of party members who are also presidents of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. When Haldenwang's predecessor Hans-Georg Maaßen made public statements in 2018 that raised doubts about whether he had sufficient distance from the far right, the last government of Angela Merkel only managed to remove him from office with great effort. The Maaßen affair contributed to the weakening of Merkel's position.
As Maaßen's successor, Thomas Haldenwang marched in the opposite direction and was highly critical of the AfD. Haldenwang's statement on ZDF that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is “not alone” responsible for “lowering the AfD's poll numbers” is well remembered.
There weren't many reactions from within our own ranks. A note from the Union faction: there should be no doubts about the non-partisan nature of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. There was a protest from the Junge Union that Haldenwang was exceeding the limits of its jurisdiction by interfering in the political battle of opinion. The FDP MP and Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki described Haldenwang's interference in the political debate on the AfD as a “strange step”.
The AfD is rejoicing
The AfD has been criticizing Haldenwang for a long time. But now she is happy. It has rarely been easier than now to defame the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as partisan. Tenor: One hand washes the other, and both together want to keep the AfD down. The party leader Alice Weidel presents it as if Haldenwang was now being honored by the CDU, so to speak. “As a reward for the abuse of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to disadvantage the AfD, Haldenwang is given a mandate in the Bundestag,” she commented on Platform X. The “party infiltration” must come to an end.
The right-wing extremist Bundestag member Jan Wenzel Schmidt wrote on Telegram: “The most neutral head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of all time.” Others spread photos of Haldenwang hoisting the rainbow flag in front of his office and with a pride flag on his lapel at a queer conference of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag occurs. The AfD says that this shows which people the CDU is using to decorate itself. If you want conservative politics, you have to choose the alternative. Internally it is said that Haldenwang's decision was a campaign gift.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior is upset about Haldenwang's election campaign on its own behalf. After all, you can't be head of an authority for a day longer if you plan to run for the Bundestag, it says. There may have been around four weeks between Haldenwang's decision to run and the news to Faeser.
Entry into the Bundestag is not yet certain
Haldenwang says he is not yet an official candidate. The constellation meeting will not take place until November 30th. But he already has a double role, according to Berlin. People there would have expected him to quit as soon as he had made his plan. Haldenwang, according to the accusation, was “drunk” with his own importance.
It is not at all certain whether Haldenwang will enter the Bundestag. Although Wuppertal was never a designated SPD stronghold, the CDU does not have an easy time in the city. She did appoint the mayor several times. In federal elections, however, Social Democratic direct candidates have so far been ahead even when the CDU has fielded better-known figures.
The Social Democrat Helge Lindh has won constituency I, in which Haldenwang now wants to run, twice so far, first by two and then by 15 percentage points. Lindh values his potential constituency competitor, as he told the FAZ. But for reasons of separation of powers, he finds Haldenwang's actions questionable. He speaks of a conflict of interest.
The regional association is staying out of the matter
Against the background of the general dissatisfaction with the traffic lights in Berlin and with Haldenwang, the district CDU now believes it has better chances. Just a few days ago, the deputy district chairwoman Derya Altunok surprisingly decided not to run for office that she had already announced – which may be an indication that the Haldenwang case was negotiated in the narrow Wuppertal district.
The leadership of the North Rhine-Westphalian CDU is also said not to have been included in the deliberations in advance. Haldenwang developed the project on his own, there was no plan of any kind from the CDU, party circles said. The regional association is demonstratively staying out of the matter.
Who will be Haldenwang's successor?
The Federal Ministry of the Interior now has another serious problem: the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is without leadership. Haldenwang's deputies have taken over the business. The search for a new president is challenging. The Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik and employees from the management staff of the Federal Criminal Police Office are mentioned again and again.
Some people on the shortlist have probably already canceled. On the one hand, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should not be without leadership for too long. On the other hand, it is not a good signal when top positions are decided so shortly before a federal election. There is a fear in the Interior Ministry that this could be exploited for political purposes.
Thomas Haldenwang can now devote himself entirely to his candidacy. He doesn't yet know which political field he wants to devote himself to in the future. Only this is certain: “The confrontation with the AfD will not be the focus of my work as a possible parliamentarian.”
