Seven sudden deaths of AfD candidates in North Rhine-Westphalia, officially dismissed as coincidence, have sparked widespread suspicion, statistical debate, and questions about trust in German institutions just days before local elections.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, five AfD candidates died within just 13 days, with two additional reserve candidates dying in the same period. Reports even mention an elderly candidate who succumbed to a long illness, and there was one suicide amongst this cohort.

On the surface, the authorities insist these are coincidences in the run-up to the September 14th elections, with natural causes or pre-existing conditions cited as the causes of all but one of these deaths. But when so many deaths occur in such a tight timeframe and geographic cluster, journalistic instincts shift gears to ask the hard questions: is it truly a coincidence, or is there more to the story than meets the eye?

Authorities insist no foul play was involved, but the sheer improbability of seven AfD candidates dying within two weeks—odds estimated at one in a billion—raises uncomfortable questions about coincidence, timing, and public trust.

No foul play, but screaming foul!

And the first thing you should learn as a journalist is ‘never to believe in coincidences,’ and there is more to the story than meets the eye. Naturally the German police claim that there is nothing suspicious and that there are no indications of foul play.

Most deaths are attributed to natural causes or pre-existing health conditions; one was a suicide, others are still under review, and a few remain undisclosed due to privacy reasons.

The first four deaths prompted administrative headaches—ballots had to be reprinted and some mail votes invalidated. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel reposted an economist’s description of the cluster as “statistically almost impossible,”

© New Eastern Outlook