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reAfD President Jörg Meuthen has urged his party members to clearly distance themselves from the rioters and provocateurs in their own ranks. In the face of brazen visitors to the Bundestag invited by AfD members, he warned on Saturday at the party’s federal conference in Kalkar: “We will achieve no more success by appearing more and more aggressive, more and more rude, more and more uninhibited.” AfD voters acted as a deterrent, saying it was wrong to show solidarity with party members who “enjoy the role of provocateurs.”
The federal government’s policy on the crown pandemic and the conduct of Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) are not appropriate “and certainly not proportionate.” This must also be criticized in clear words. “But is it really wise to speak of a ‘Crown dictatorship’?” Meuthen asked the more than 500 delegates in the room. “We do not live in a dictatorship, otherwise we could hardly hold this party congress today,” he added.
Alexander Gauland, chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, later criticized Meuthen’s speech in an interview with the Phoenix television station. In the speech there was “too much reverence for the protection of the constitution,” Gauland said. Consider what parts of it are “divisive.” Gauland himself had used the term “dictatorship of the Crown” in the Bundestag. One could argue about this term, said in Kalkar. In general, as the reactions in the room had shown, Meuthen “took offense” at his speech.
The two-day party conference began on Saturday, accompanied by small protests. Among other things, delegates want to adopt a pension concept. Furthermore, the party has found a new topic with its fundamental criticism of the state’s anti-crown measures. In his opening speech, AfD president Tino Chrupalla criticized the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). He accused her of following a “pure bankruptcy policy.” Stocks would be destroyed, the wave of bankruptcies was already underway, the course of the pandemic would cost many people their jobs.
Chrupalla defended that the AfD is holding a conference of the presence party in the corona pandemic. Such events are indispensable in democracy, he said. “If we let a virus put us in our place, democracy has already been lost.” At the same time, Chrupalla appealed to delegates to adhere to the concept of hygiene. “Wear your masks, keep your distance,” he said. The delegates “must not damage the party congress with reckless behavior.”
The event was billed as a social party conference. Because in addition to a concept for a pension system, it should also be about the question of how the AfD is located in basic income. An amendment states, for example, that German citizens living in Germany must receive a monthly basic income of 500 euros, while foreigners must continue to receive social benefits only after a means test.
Police reported a peaceful demonstration
Around 500 opponents of the AfD demonstrated in Kalkar against the party congress. The alliance had called for the demonstration to “oppose racism,” and members of the Bundestag from almost all parties spoke at the demonstration. Police reported in the morning that the event was peaceful. For both protesters and delegates there is a mask requirement everywhere. The public order office had announced that it would also check in the room if the officially approved hygiene concept for the event was being implemented. The city of Kalkar has announced that it will otherwise cancel the party conference.
According to a spokesperson, delegates who are exempt from the mask requirement due to a medical certificate can easily be identified. A photo from the Reuters news agency showed several employees of the public order office during a control in the lobby on Saturday morning. An AfD lawsuit against the requirement to wear mouth and nose protection in the seat was unsuccessful.
Regulatory office clerk in the Kalkar hall
What: REUTERS
In the party congress, two positions on the federal executive committee must also be filled. Treasurer Klaus Fohrmann resigned in January. AfD board member Andreas Kalbitz was denied membership in May because he was said to have hidden his membership from the far-right German Youth (HDJ) and Republicans. The by-elections are scheduled for Sunday.
Birgit Bessin from Brandenburg and European MP Maximilian Krah from Saxony were recently negotiated as possible candidates. Carsten Hütter, who was deputy treasurer before Fohrmann’s resignation and is currently interim responsible for the party’s finances, wants to take over this task permanently.
“AfD on the way to further radicalization”
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) sees the AfD on the road to radicalization. “The forceful anti-Semitism of Björn Höcke, who was re-elected as president of the state of Thuringia, the racist sentiments of many supporters of the AfD, who with some members have an outstretched arm in parliament, the solidarity with the extremists on the street, who make our state and its organs despicable and also before Do not shy away from criminal acts, breaking taboos in the Bundestag, I am convinced that the AfD is on the way to further radicalization ”, Herrmann told the Germany publishing network (RND) and he asked for a corresponding reaction for the protection of the constitution.
