Saturday April 10th 2021
Potential for conflict before party congress
Weidel does not run as an AfD top candidate
Which top duo should the AfD lead in the election campaign? It has long been speculated that parliamentary group leader Weidel will stand next to party leader Chrupalla. But shortly before the federal party conference, she surprisingly refrains from running for office. She justifies this with adverse circumstances.
Before the AfD federal party conference, parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel said goodbye to the race for the top candidacy. She justified this with the tussle over the as yet unresolved procedure for the nomination of one or two top candidates.
“On the one hand, the federal party congress, as the highest decision-making body, is asked to decide on the candidacy, and on the other hand, a member survey was initiated in advance by the majority of the federal executive, the result of which cannot be ignored,” said the chairman of the Bundestag faction. “This adverse circumstance made me decide not to be available for the top candidacy at this party congress,” added Weidel. She left it open whether she would stand if the question was not to be clarified at the party congress but later by a member’s decision.
In a member survey, the majority of the participating AfD members spoke out in favor of not having the question of the top candidacy clarified by the federal party conference, but later by the members. The federal board members who had advertised this procedure justified this with the fact that not all state associations have yet chosen their candidates for the federal election. The state list is still pending in Baden-Württemberg, where Weidel is the head of the state.
In 2017, the AfD ran with two top candidates: Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland. This time, party leader Tino Chrupalla in particular has good chances. In addition to Weidel, Joana Cotar was recently named as a possible top candidate. The member of the Bundestag, who is relatively unknown to the public, is in second place on the state list in Hesse.
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