Erfurt (dpa/th) - After massive criticism of the Thuringian state government's hiring practice, the Erfurt public prosecutor's office is investigating on suspicion of infidelity. There is an initial suspicion, said a spokesman for the investigative authority on Monday. MDR Thuringia had previously reported on the investigation. According to the spokesman, the investigations were triggered by media reports on a preliminary audit report by the state audit office, which concluded that the appointments of state secretaries were "illegal", "incorrect" or "incomprehensible".
According to the State Chancellery, the State Audit Office accuses the state government of not selecting the best when it comes to hiring state secretaries. The State Chancellery rejected this criticism and justified this with exceptions for political officials.
The public prosecutor's office does not have the test report, which so far only exists as a draft. According to the spokesman, the report had been requested. When the investigators can expect it is unclear. The procedure is currently against unknown. This was preceded by a preliminary examination procedure in which it was clarified whether there was any initial suspicion at all. The spokesman was initially unable to say whether a second test report, which the "Freie Wort" had first reported on, would also be the subject of the investigation.
The state government's hiring practice and the filling of management positions will also be topics in the Thuringian state parliament on Tuesday. Two current hours deal with it - at the request of the FDP group and the CDU parliamentary group.
