Authorities in Saxony-Anhalt: When the employer turns blue

By Anne Fromm, David Muschenich, Konrad Litschko and Christian Rath

There are 37 questions and answers that are intended to ensure the “survival” of teachers in Saxony-Anhalt. For example: Can a teacher be required to sing the national anthem every morning at school? No. Or: Can a history teacher still talk about National Socialism if future curricula are supposed to focus on the period between 1813 and 1871? Yes.

The answers come from the education union GEW. In mid-September, shortly after the state elections, she published a “survival guide” for teachers in Saxony-Anhalt. The name AfD does not appear in the brochure - but the content it covers is obviously aimed at the party's election program. The primer, says Malte Gerken, deputy state chairman of the union, is currently in high demand from members in Saxony-Anhalt, but also from other state associations.

With the magazine, the GEW wants to arm itself for a possible AfD education minister. In a month, the teachers in Saxony-Anhalt could have an AfD employer in charge. And not just her. AfD people could also take over ministries and administrations for the first time. Then, probably on December 15th, when their AfD top man Ulrich Siegmund would be elected Prime Minister in the state parliament. The first from a right-wing extremist party since 1945.

The tension in the authorities is correspondingly high. Nobody wants to talk openly. But if you ask around among teachers, police officers and public service employees, you will find a lot of uncertainty. “Many people are wondering whether they will still be at work in January,” says one person. “Everyone is waiting to see what’s coming.” And then the question arises: what to do? On the one hand, says an employee of a ministry, the administration is solely committed to the free democratic basic order and not to any party. But what if an AfD minister made obviously unconstitutional decisions? “I can't imagine that many administrative employees would support this and thus become accomplices of AfD politics,” she says and is determined to keep her job, regardless of the minister. "If I leave, then maybe a candidate close to the AfD will take over. I don't want to allow that."

An employee of another ministry sees it differently. Some of his colleagues have just taken out legal protection insurance in order to be prepared for possible labor law proceedings. He himself is looking for jobs in other federal states. He fears that the AfD could eliminate his area of ​​responsibility, and with it his job. The mood in the house has changed since the election, he says, and mistrust has grown. He now often asks himself which colleagues are secretly looking forward to an AfD leader or would become a cog in the AfD machine. In the elevator and in the canteen, people became more careful about how openly they spoke.

In several ministries it is also said that a maximum of 5 percent of the workforce is on the move. In the Ministry of Justice, some should look for positions in courts or public prosecutors, and in the Ministry of Education, they should look for schools. As a result, ministries could lose well-qualified people and years of experience, especially at management levels. There is a risk of a “brain drain”. On the other hand, the vast majority obviously want to stay. “People are passionate about their topics,” says one employee. “And they want to keep fighting for them.”

Ulrich Stock, state chairman of the Civil Service Association, speaks of a “tense silence” in the administration. But also that he hardly sees any civil servants giving up their jobs now. However: “We have never had so many inquiries about protesting.” The term means the obligation for officials to refuse illegal instructions. Employees in public authorities, on the other hand, are not obliged to do this.

The Civil Service Association is currently bringing its member unions up to speed in this regard, reports Stock. However, he worries whether the judiciary can decide quickly enough if legal disputes arise over AfD instructions. In an emergency, the administrative courts in Halle or Magdeburg would come into play. These are already heavily overloaded, especially with asylum applications.

Some ministries began making their subject areas democratic-proof some time ago. In February, Education Minister Jan Riedel (CDU) issued a decree on political education in schools, stipulating that teachers must be party-politically neutral but democratically clear. Civic education is also enshrined in the state school law and the curricula.

However, an AfD government could withdraw such decrees and change the laws again. She still wouldn't be able to reach every classroom. Schools can decide for themselves how they use their budget for democracy education, which memorials they visit and which flags they hang. The GEW's "Survival Primer" gives teachers tips on how to deal with instructions that they reject: Service according to the rules as a "defensive strategy," it says. Or also: strike, protest, file a complaint with the state constitutional court.

The previous state parliament has made provisions for this. Since constitutional judges are elected with a two-thirds majority, the AfD could block the election with a blocking minority of more than a third of the seats. That's why the state constitution was changed in May. If a new election fails for six months, the state constitutional court must make three personnel proposals to the state parliament. One of them can then be elected in the state parliament with a simple majority.

All other judges in Saxony-Anhalt hire justice ministers or prime ministers based on their suitability. Unlike in many federal states, there is no judicial election committee here, in which members of parliament and judges are also involved. An AfD justice minister would have a relatively free hand in personnel policy. However, the AfD has always criticized this. In 2022 she applied for the introduction of a judge election committee in Saxony-Anhalt. The other factions refused. In the AfD's current election program, a judges' election committee, in which the majority of judges would sit, was still planned. Judges are independent in Germany, prosecutors are not. The latter can receive instructions from their superiors, but also from the Minister of Justice. The minister can, for example, order that proceedings be initiated or discontinued. In fact, this only happens very rarely. In Saxony-Anhalt there were only two individual instructions from 2024 to 2026. An AfD justice minister would of course be under observation as to how he makes use of it.

The police in Saxony-Anhalt seem remarkably unconcerned. According to the Interior Ministry, there have been 11 transfer applications from police officers since the election at the beginning of September - a small jump, as there have only been a total of 33 since the beginning of the year. Whether these 11 applications are related to the election is unclear, says a spokeswoman for the GdP police union. She could not detect any widespread uncertainty among the members.

A police officer who is concerned does not want to be quoted by name. He wants to do his job until he retires, but he doesn't know whether that will work. He is tense about what and how quickly something would change in his everyday work if an AfD politician became interior minister. It is known in his area that he is critical of the AfD's policies. “Still, I never had political conversations in the car,” he says. That has changed since the election. Young colleagues in particular told him several times how great the AfD was and asked what he had against the party.

He doesn't believe that an AfD government would take direct action against him. He is “too insignificant” for that. But what if he doesn't follow orders because they don't comply with the rule of law? Would his suitability as a civil servant then be questioned? If he were to be fired, how long would the litigation drag on, and how long could he live without pay? “Such questions concern me every day,” says the police officer.

What is now giving hope to some employees of ministries and administration is that they do not consider many AfD ideas to be implementable, according to various sources. There are neither enough teachers nor enough rooms to provide special education for children with disabilities and refugees. A declaration of patriotism, like the one the AfD wants to demand from cultural and democratic associations, could be overturned by the courts. A lot of funding, for example for the expansion of renewable energies, would come from the federal government anyway. And ministries often work slowly, administration can be sluggish - even more so when orders are unpleasant. Then the AfD wouldn't be able to achieve much. At least not very quickly.