{"id":720,"date":"2025-09-04T21:49:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/?p=720"},"modified":"2025-09-08T18:37:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:37:53","slug":"seven-german-opposition-party-candidates-die-weeks-before-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/04\/seven-german-opposition-party-candidates-die-weeks-before-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven German opposition party candidates die weeks before elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cstatistically conspicuous\u201d deaths are \u201chard to explain,\u201d AfD\u2019s deputy head has said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reported what one of its senior members is calling a “statistically conspicuous”<\/em> series of deaths among its candidates just weeks before local elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.<\/p>\n

A total of seven party members, including five main candidates and two “reserve”<\/em> ones, have died over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

The deaths were reported by the right-wing opposition party between August 19 and September 3 – all before the local elections scheduled for September 14. The list included local AfD politicians aged between 42 and 80 in several municipalities across the region, according to the media.<\/p>\n

The party’s deputy regional chairman, Kay Gottschalk, told Die Welt TV that there was “no indication”<\/em> of “murder or anything similar.”<\/em> The police also said they had found no indication of any foul play, according to broadcaster ARD. The news has still prompted speculation on the internet.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
AfD polling higher than ever ahead of key regional vote<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The regional election committee has stated that it cannot find anything out of the ordinary. The committee is aware of a total of 16 deaths of candidates for the local elections, including members of a dozen political parties and associations, it said, adding that the numbers had “not significantly increased”<\/em> in comparison to other election cycles.<\/p>\n

AfD candidates still account for some 43% of all deaths reported by the committee, with all other affected political groups each confirming just one candidate death. An AfD deputy head and a Bundestag MP, Stephan Brandner, called the numbers “statistically conspicuous,”<\/em> adding that they are “hard to explain.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Some 20,000 seats will be up for grabs in the upcoming elections, according to Die Welt.<\/p>\n

The party has steadily been gaining popularity in Germany. A poll conducted in mid-August suggested that it had overtaken Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc to become the country’s most popular.<\/p>\n

The German domestic security service designated it a “confirmed far-right extremist”<\/em> group in May, prompting the AfD to challenge the label in court. The country’s justice minister considered banning the party altogether later the same month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cstatistically conspicuous\u201d deaths are \u201chard to explain,\u201d AfD\u2019s deputy head has said Alternative for Germany (AfD) has reported what one of its senior members is calling a “statistically conspicuous” series of deaths among its candidates just weeks before local elections in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. A total of…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}