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Failed Candidate Spaniel
Photo: Bernd Weißbrod / dpa
In the fight for the state presidency, the Südwest-AfD is extremely divided.
Because there was no absolute majority for one of two candidates on Saturday, both aspirants for the chief post surprisingly announced their withdrawal from the candidacy.
The vote is about the successor to Alice Weidel, who wants to concentrate on her Berlin offices as federal party leader and co-group leader and no longer ran for the state presidency.
In the new elections, police officer Martin Hess received 49.82 percent of the votes in a second ballot, and Dirk Spaniel, member of the Bundestag, received 49.29 percent of the votes.
In the first ballot Spaniel had led very narrowly.
He is repeatedly said to be close to the ethnic-national “wing” of the AfD.
Hess, on the other hand, sees himself as part of a moderate current in the party, is close to Weidel and was most recently vice-president of the state association.
After the second ballot, Hess offered to withdraw and called on his opponent Spaniel to do the same.
He declared his willingness to do so in principle, but suggested a dual leadership.
This, in turn, was rejected by the majority of AfD members.
The battle for the state presidency is now being decided between two completely new candidates: the state parliamentarian Emil Sänze from the right fringe is going into the race against the federal parliamentarian and deputy state chairman Markus Frohnmaier.
»The others are the enemies of the constitution«
"We don't allow ourselves to be assumed that we are enemies of the constitution, the others are the enemies of the constitution," said Sänze in his application speech.
The people are no longer represented, but patronized, he claimed.
Sänze is attributed to the völkisch-national camp.
dab/dpa