Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - An employee of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Chancellery worked for the CDU party headquarters in the NRW election campaign. "The activity itself is not objectionable and was approved," said a spokesman for the State Chancellery on Friday when asked by the dpa. The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" (Saturday edition) had previously reported on it.
"The necessary organizational separation of activities was maintained," emphasized the spokesman. The procedure is also based on tried-and-tested models in the federal government and in other states.
According to information from the newspaper, the employee of the state press office at the CDU had looked after a social media channel for Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst on a mini-job basis.
The clear separation between official and part-time work, especially for a party, is a particularly important concern of the State Chancellery, it said. "Against this background, taking up and reporting secondary employment is to be welcomed and is a common procedure that creates the necessary clarity," says the statement.
Criticism came from the previous coalition partner FDP: The State Chancellery should not "become the campaign headquarters," said Moritz Körner, Secretary General of the NRW Liberals, the newspaper.
The SPD in the Düsseldorf state parliament sees a need for clarification: "For what reason does an employee of the state chancellery take on a paid part-time job for the CDU in the middle of the hot election campaign phase?" asked the SPD state parliament member Nadja Lüders.
Wüst must dispel the suspicion "that state officials have been used here for his election campaign during their working hours". This would be "a blatant violation of the neutrality requirement of state administration employees".
