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The party’s leader, Meuthen, wanted to abolish mandatory pension insurance. But he is threatened with a severe defeat in the party congress. The reorientation of the AfD is taking over the Thuringian head of state, Höcke.
For Jörg Meuthen, the matter was clear: mandatory pension insurance should be abolished because it was not economically viable. With this demand, the head of AfD wanted to enter the federal electoral campaign and believed that the supposedly economically liberal party backed him. But it turned out different. The “wing” observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist gave against and impeded Meuthen’s plans.
The return of the “grand piano”
A key social policy proposal will now be voted on at the party congress at the weekend in Kalkar, whose pen, though not exclusively directed by the “wing,” makes Meuthen appear weak as the party’s leader. The concept no longer has anything to do with your ideas. If the delegates approve the proposal, the decision would amount to a victory for Thuringian state spokesman Björn Höcke over the president.
Höcke was on the defensive throughout the year: Meuthen was impressed by the threat of observation of the whole party by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. the dissolution of the imposed “wing” and Höcke’s partner Andreas Kalbitz, expelled from the party. The return of the Thuringian head of state could consist of putting the federal president in his place and, at the same time, separating the party from its radically liberal roots from an economic point of view.
Moving away from economic liberalism
For now, it seems, the party is devoting itself to all of Höcke’s alleged plans to “defend the social gains of 150 years of work against the destructive forces of predatory capitalism,” as he put it in 2017. The break with the pension system As the party fought in its day, it is off the table: in its place are the reform plans that favor the “welfare state”, the “social market economy” and “solidarity and mutual aid within our people “.
The newspaper “Welt” identified the roots of these reform plans in the reception of Marx by the New Right: they had nothing in common with “the ideas of emancipation of the left”, but saw in a central figure of fascism Spanish as his source of “overcoming the social.” Division to which we must return to work ”. Even if the idea of ”expropriation and nationalization” continues to provoke opposition in the party, the party authorities are unanimous in wanting to strengthen the state in key areas.
Requirement: 2.1 children per woman
Borrowings from this idea can also be found in the main motion for the party congress, which goes against the goals of the party president. Although Höcke has been unable to prevail with his demand for a “citizens’ pension” for the Germans, a modernization of the civil service system is planned, which should indicate a compromise for Meuthen. Otherwise, however, there is little to do with the influx of economically liberal parties.
Rather, the existing pension system must be strengthened with family policy. The party imagines that every woman should have an average of 2.1 children in the future, to solve the problem of fewer and fewer contributors with more and more recipients. Then the immigration of people from abroad would not be necessary, since in any case – so it is stated – “most of these migrants (…) will permanently depend on state transfer payments.”
Volkish nationalism as a program
The projected increase in the birth rate, on the other hand, is “the only way to maintain our social systems, but also to preserve our culture and the continued existence of our people,” as the main proposal puts it. The nationalist nationalism of Höcke’s supposedly dissolved “wing” would have finally reached the party’s agenda with the motion. That would greatly weaken Meuthen’s position.
Because until now the somewhat more moderate part of the AfD has managed to move away from the fact that the “wing” is a party movement, but the basic program indicates a different direction. That also appeared to be Meuthen’s defense strategy against a threat of observation of the AfD by constitutional protection. The central question for authority is whether the right-wing extremists in Höcke’s camp can influence the whole party.
So something more than a pension concept is being voted on. The motion, if so decided, would harm President Meuthen, reject his pension strategy, and at the same time undermine the public image of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The “wing”, supposedly dissolved, would be reinforced, the president said. For Höcke it would be a victory across the board.
