AfD party conference live: is the decision about the party leadership made in Riesa?
Created: 06/18/2022, 10:03 am
By: Andreas Schmid
The AfD continues its party congress in Riesa.
Also present were the federal chairmen Tino Chrupalla (left) and Alice Weidel (right).
© Revierfoto/imago
The AfD meets for the 13th federal party conference in Riesa.
This Saturday could be decided on a crucial Personnel.
The news ticker.
Party congress in Saxony
: The AfD elects a new party leadership in Riesa.
The party congress runs from June 17th to 19th.
Will Chrupalla stay?
AfD boss Tino Chrupalla is applying for party leadership - double leadership with Weidel conceivable.
Höcke influence
: The right wing camp around Björn Höcke is reaching for more power.
This
news ticker for the AfD party conference in Riesa
is continuously updated.
+++ 10.05 a.m .:
The AfD party conference in Riesa continues.
First, other motions will be discussed.
In detail, it is about whether the delegates from Berlin remain excluded from the party congress.
According to the chairman of the meeting, Julian Flak, the federal board had excluded the delegates the previous evening.
Update from June 18, 8:25 a.m .:
The AfD continues its federal party conference in Riesa on Saturday (10 a.m.) with the vote on a new leadership.
The election of at least the closer party leadership was actually planned for Friday afternoon;
however, there were significant delays, partly because of a lengthy debate on the agenda.
An amendment to the articles of incorporation was passed, according to which individual leadership should also be possible in the future.
In addition, almost 550 delegates spoke out in favor of building new nuclear power plants.
AfD party conference: Höcke initiative approved – future single boss role possible
Update from June 17, 7.30 p.m .:
The AfD will only elect its party leadership on Saturday.
The delegates at the federal party convention in Riesa decided on Friday evening not to deal with this item until the following day.
The three-day meeting will focus on replacing the leadership of the party.
The posts in the entire federal executive board will be reassigned.
It is not yet clear whether one or two chairpersons will be elected.
This will also be voted on on Saturday.
The party congress had changed the statutes of the AfD on Friday and thus made it possible for the future to have an individual leadership.
The previously valid statutes provided for "two or three" federal spokesmen - that's the name of the chairmen in the AfD.
AfD changes party statutes: In future there can be one or one sole chairman
Update from June 17, 7:15 p.m .: In
the future, the AfD can also be led by one or a sole chairman.
The delegates at the federal party convention in Riesa approved a corresponding change in the party statutes on Friday with the required two-thirds majority.
In doing so, they followed a suggestion by the Thuringian AfD boss Björn Höcke, who declared the collective leadership model practiced since the party was founded in 2013 to be outdated.
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Höcke spoke out in favor of installing a dual leadership first, but then electing a single person to lead the next election.
The re-election of party leader Tino Chrupalla is considered likely.
The AfD politician Alice Weidel was discussed as a possible co-chair, but she initially kept her ambitions covered.
Chrupalla and Weidel already lead the parliamentary group as dual leaders.
At the start of the party congress, Chrupalla demanded that “the destructive mood of the past” be overcome in view of the quarrels within the party.
The AfD should concentrate on the groups of voters that they can reach and then vote on the election campaign. As examples he named "poor pensioners" or medium-sized companies.
"This includes disciplined work, which is the basis for our success," said Chrupalla, who has been party leader since the end of 2019.
AfD would build new nuclear power plants: the federal party conference supports this proposal
Update from June 17, 6:25 p.m.:
The AfD federal party conference in Riesa, Saxony, came out in favor of the construction of new nuclear power plants with a large majority.
A resolution passed on Friday said nuclear power is now "used by nearly two-thirds of the world's population."
It is "one of the most important building blocks in the energy mix of the future".
The German nuclear phase-out "runs completely counter to this development," criticizes the AfD in the decision.
The party accuses the federal government of an "irrational energy policy" that has "fatal consequences".
Citizens and companies paid the highest electricity prices in the world.
Security of supply is dwindling, many natural and cultural landscapes are being devalued by wind farms, solar systems and energy crops.
Therefore, new nuclear power plants are "now" needed, according to the resolution. The AfD demands "not only the continued operation of safe German nuclear power plants", but also "the construction of new, modern and safer nuclear power plants in Germany".
Nuclear energy is less dangerous than other generation technologies, even among the renewable energies.
It is reliable, available around the clock and protects nature and biodiversity.
With reference to France, the USA or Eastern European countries, the electricity price is low where it has a high share of generation.
In addition, nuclear energy is "the only realistic option for rapid CO2 reduction, if this is considered necessary".
AfD party conference: clear the way for future individual leadership – veto on Secretary-General question
Update from June 17, 3:30 p.m.:
The AfD clears the way for a future individual leader.
After the necessary two-thirds majority, a single or a double leadership is possible in the future;
Up until now, the statutes stipulated that the AfD be led by two or three chairmen.
The amendment to the statutes was accepted by the party congress with 69.2 percent.
However, the proposal to appoint a general secretary for the party in the case of a single leader was rejected.
Björn Höcke, among others, spoke out in favor of this model.
Update from June 17, 3 p.m.:
The AfD is currently discussing possible changes to the statutes, for example with regard to the term of the judges at the arbitral tribunal or the number of federal spokesmen.
One application calls for “one to three federal spokespersons”.
However, the election of a single executive board should remain possible.
Then, however, there would be a general secretary, as is usual with other parties.
SPD General Secretary is currently Kevin Kühnert, with the CDU Mario Czaja recently took over from Paul Ziemiak.
A two-thirds majority is required for this.
Höcke steps up to the podium and “makes a clear plea for a single leader”, but wants to choose a two-man leader this time.
At the next party congress, a sole party leader should then be elected.
A single leader means "leadership with responsibility for a while." Höcke criticized: "Basically, two leaders are potentially conflictive." Höcke finds the debate about an AfD general secretary "premature".
AfD party conference: Chrupalla is applying for party leadership – double leadership with Weidel conceivable
Update from June 17, 2:10 p.m .:
Whether the AfD will elect a new party leadership today is not yet foreseeable.
The current chairman Tino Chrupalla is running for the top office.
His challenger for the top office is Norbert Kleinwaechter.
He is attributed to the moderate wing of the party.
The AfD MEP Nicolaus Fest is applying as a possible co-chair.
Many delegates expect that Alice Weidel will also run for this post if the dual leadership is to remain.
Together with Chrupalla, she heads the AfD parliamentary group.
AfD party conference: No application for Kalbitz role
Update from June 17, 1:45 p.m .:
What the AfD will not discuss is an application for the right to appear from the former Brandenburg head of state, Andreas Kalbitz.
The AfD federal party conference declined with a narrow majority to vote on more influence for Kalbitz.
An application by the Brandenburg state association aimed to reverse the ban on Kalbitz, who had been excluded from the party.
The delegates voted with 54 percent not to deal with the corresponding application.
The AfD federal executive canceled Kalbitz's party membership in May 2020 because he is said to have concealed previous memberships in the Republicans and in the now banned right-wing extremist German Youth Loyal to the Homeland when he joined the party.
The cancellation was pushed by the then party chairman Jörg Meuthen.
The party's federal arbitration court confirmed the expulsion a little later, while Kalbitz took legal action.
The Berlin district court dismissed his lawsuit last April.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution considers Höcke and Kalbitz to be key new right-wing actors.
© Martin Schutt/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Archive image
Update from June 17, 1:30 p.m
.: Nothing is really happening at the AfD party conference at the moment.
The delegates were busy with the agenda in several motions.
A lot of back and forth, since the 600 AfD representatives do not agree on supposedly banal points such as the order of the items on the agenda.
In terms of content, it should start with the AfD positions on nuclear power.
AfD party conference: Höcke attacks “narcissists on the federal executive board”
Update from June 17, 12:40 p.m .:
Björn Höcke speaks at the party conference.
And as clearly as usual.
The AfD must recognize "that we have lost the spirit of departure, that we were slowed down by narcissists on the federal executive board," said Höcke.
He promoted his proposal to set up a reform commission to ensure "more effective institutions, structures and processes".
"We have to become more powerful," said Höcke, whose performance was greeted with great applause by the delegates.
He complained that "there is too much talk about individuals and their ambitions for power and not enough about content".
AfD party conference: A party is looking for a way out of the crisis - new party leadership
First report
: Riesa – It is no coincidence that the AfD is holding its federal party conference in a small town in Saxony.
The alternative for Germany is traditionally strong in the Free State and achieves its best results here.
Recently, however, there has been less and less to celebrate in the AfD.
The three-day meeting in Riesa takes place at a time when right-wing populists are struggling to keep their course.
The AfD has lost votes in the past nine state elections.
In the 2021 federal election it was 2.1 percentage points less, in Schleswig-Holstein the party was thrown out of the state parliament.
A graphic is circulating internally for the AfD in which these election results are listed.
Including a photo of Tino Chrupalla, a bouquet of flowers inserted with Photoshop and an ironic "congratulations".
Chrupalla, currently party and faction leader, is not without controversy.
Also because of its proximity to Russia.
In 2020 he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
His power could still be strengthened at the party congress in Riesa.
First of all, there is the fundamental question of single or double leadership.
Motions to change the articles of association aim to have only one person at the top in the future.
Then Chrupalla would probably be the first choice.
In the case of a double leadership, the name Alice Weidel pops up.
She is currently group leader along with Chrupalla.
The top personnel of the AfD - coming and going
View photo gallery
AfD party conference: Höcke reaches for influence
Chrupalla's former co-chairman Jörg Meuthen resigned in January and left the AfD.
He justified this with "totalitarian echoes" in the party and the increasing influence of the right-wing camp around the Thuringian Björn Höcke.
The party congress is considered trend-setting for the AfD, depending on how strong the forces around Höcke prevail.
Höcke took a public stand in May.
"Perhaps now is the time," said the controversial but still influential AfD man in front of party friends, "to help shape the party leadership at federal level."
To classify: Höcke is observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and described as a right-wing extremist.
According to the court ruling, the former history teacher can be called a fascist.
Despite the Höcke statements, it is considered unlikely in the AfD that he himself will reach for the chairmanship of the federal party.
Shortly before the start of the party conference, it was still unclear whether he would stand for election.
On Friday morning he said he felt "very comfortable" in Thuringia.
However, he is likely to try to use the party congress to demonstrate his influence.
Björn Höcke is chairman of the AfD in Thuringia.
© Bodo Schackow/dpa
AfD party conference: Chrupalla calls for overcoming the "destructive mood"
Höcke is the most prominent person in the radical faction within the AfD.
Chrupalla is considered more moderate.
In his opening speech at the party congress, he said that he wanted to lead the party on a "free and social" course.
He sees no contradiction between "free" and "social".
Chrupalla said to the delegates that a new federal board had to be elected that would work together “collegially and constructively, trustingly and considerately”.
It is now about "leaving the destructive atmosphere of the past behind us".
The new election of the party leadership is planned for Friday afternoon.
600 delegates elect a new AfD board.
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