The party “Die Basis” has a new board – and it comes up against a legacy: it’s about unpaid social security contributions.
When a party comes together that emerged from the “lateral thinker” scene and calls itself “grassroots democracy,” things can get turbulent. It took three days at the beginning of April for “Die Basis” to remove its old leadership and choose a new one. However, an unpleasant surprise awaited them.
At least that’s what the message that the new management team sent to the members sounds like. The dual leadership of Sven Lingreen and Skadi Helmert with treasurer Bernd Bremer “unfortunately had to accept that no social security contributions were paid for employees and that this was only discovered in an emergency”. What this emergency consists of, they did not specify.
This immediately triggered malice on social networks. Employers who do not pay social security contributions for their employees may be liable to prosecution. This looks particularly bad for a party that presents itself as “grassroots democracy”.
“Singular event without consequences”
The message said nothing about the dimensions. However, when asked by t-online, former chairwoman Viviane Fischer spoke of a “singular event without any consequences”. Is it the new board’s reprisal against you?
Under Fischer, the party had grown to up to 34,000 members, with prominent figures such as the microbiologist Sucharit Bhakdi and the former SPD member of the Bundestag Wolfgang Wodarg standing by their side. But she had also publicly engaged in a mud fight with her co-chairman Reiner Füllmich, who resigned from office in November. In the new election, she was only able to win 47 votes from more than 500 eligible members. In her environment there was talk of contesting the election.
The process that the new board has made public falls during her time as chair and is related to a resignation: In November, the treasurer gave up her position together with Füllmich and regulated personnel matters until the end of December. From January there was “incorrect accounting”, as Fischer says: no more pay slips were created. This was due to a change in health insurance, it is only about two employees in IT.
Fischer also shares the blame with the new federal treasurer, Bremer, because he took over the vacant position with the acting treasurer after his resignation. Bremer and his two board colleagues see it differently: “The previous board was solely responsible for everything before April 1, 2023, so ultimately Viviane Fischer as chairwoman.”
No charges against the old board
The new board is “aware of the responsibility towards our employees,” says a joint statement by Lingreen, Helmert and Bremer: “By acting immediately after omissions became known, the issue of social security reports and payments could be resolved.” Now the health insurance company has been clarified, the outstanding contributions have been paid out and the social insurance has been reported later, and the payroll accounting is being handled competently. They do not want to take steps against the old board: “Once these omissions have been dealt with, we see no reason to press charges.”
According to t-online information, there were also inconsistencies in the statement of accounts that parties have to submit to the Bundestag. Fischer explains that the Bundestag has criticized “some inaccuracies” – and also blames the new Treasurer Bremer, among others. In his function as Berlin state treasurer, he worked on the federal executive board.
Overall, the new party leadership speaks of “construction sites” left behind by the old board. However, the type and scope of the contaminated sites are manageable and are being consistently processed. However, some questions are still open. On April 15, a list of items relevant to the new board was sent to the old chair. Fischer explains that there is no deadline for the handover according to the statutes. It is the duty of the entire old board – including the Füllme camp that was eliminated in the dispute.
Fischer and the new board are apparently pursuing different courses. The Berlin lawyer, who hosted a video forum called “Corona Committee” until the dispute over money with Füllmich, wants to ensure that criticism of measures is appropriately represented in the “base” even after she has been voted out. She told t-online that some wanted to make the party “connectable” to parliament at all costs, and that the principle of grassroots democracy was being weakened.
