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AfD chief Jörg Meuthen called on his party to be more disciplined at the beginning of the AfD federal party conference. Meuthen criticized his party officials speaking of a “Corona dictatorship” over the Corona measures. Among other things, the leader of the parliamentary group Alexander Gauland had spoken in the Bundestag. Meuthen also criticized members of the AfD parliamentary group who had described the Infection Protection Act as an “enabling law” and who sought to join forces with the radicalizing “lateral thinker” movement.
Meuthen also turned against radical members of the AfD, who first provoked and then demanded the party’s solidarity. “Let’s leave in the rain those who love to fight and wallow because they like themselves in the role of provocateurs like pubescent schoolboys,” he yelled. The AfD will no longer be successful if it becomes increasingly aggressive, crude, and uninhibited. “Either we’ll hit the bend here, and soon, or we’ll find ourselves in very rough seas as a group and possibly fail.”
Reactions to the speech showed how divided the party is now. Some delegates stood up to applaud Meuthen, others remained seated, and the boos were also loud during Meuthen’s speech. Over the course of the party congress, the party leader will face a motion that wants to disapprove of “divisive behavior.”
In extreme cases, the party congress is threatened with demolition
With his speech, Meuthen questioned the entire political style of the AfD, which in recent years has always been characterized by provocations, taboos and escalation. In an interview in Phoenix, the AfD parliamentary group leader Gauland Meuthen also criticized the attack on the Bundestag parliamentary group, describing his speech in parts as divisive and hinting that Meuthen bowed to the protection of the constitution.
With the leader of the parliamentary group Alice Weidel, the nerves seem to be on the edge. When confronted in the Phoenix interview with the fact that some of the AfD members want a “social-nationalist” policy, Weidel claimed that the moderator had said “National Socialist” and interrupted the interview.
The AfD is holding a presence party conference with 600 delegates this weekend in Kalkar in North Rhine-Westphalia. The event is under observation by the public order office. Delegates are seated at individual tables with AfD blue tablecloths in the great room, the minimum distance must be maintained, the floor is glued with directional arrows. Each of the delegates has a small bottle of sanitizer in front of them. However, the mayor of Kalkar, Britta Schulz, had doubts in advance that the hygiene requirements of the city would be met at the big event.
Many AfD delegates have now provided the mask of the unloved with a political statement: the printed German flag, the AfD logo and the letters are popular. “Free speech”, “muzzle”, or simply “Correct!” As is often the case, Alexander Gauland carries dachshunds.
Delegates who do not meet the mask requirement in place must be removed from the room. In extreme cases, the party congress is threatened with demolition. According to a spokesperson, delegates who are exempt from the mask requirement due to a medical certificate can easily be identified.
Nationalist caregiver course so far particularly successful in the east
Party leader Tino Chrupalla tried to call delegates to discipline with a rhetorical trick at the start of the party congress. “We are here because we show the world: Anyone who is able to adhere to the rules of distance and hygiene can hold party presence conferences even in Corona times.” The AfD can deal with the pandemic “much better” than all other parties. In Chrupalla’s logic, sticking to the rules would be a way to kill the other parties and show that the ban on big events is wrong.
The AfD wants to vote on his course on pension and social policy in his party’s congress. There are big differences here between representatives of liberal market ideas, such as party leader Meuthen, and advocates of national social policy, including Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke.
Chrupalla does not see that the AfD has to change
Chrupalla positioned the AfD in his speech as a party for social justice and workers. He yelled, “We are social without blushing.” Chrupalla believes that the AfD should do politics for all those who vote for it. “We represent the interests of all those who day by day bend down for their families and this country. Because these are the people who have allowed us one electoral success after another since 2013 ”. With a provisional nationalist course, the AfD had achieved good results in the elections, especially in the east.
It was also noted in the speech of the Chrupalla party leader that he did not ask his fellow party members to be restrained. See a “smear campaign” by the “political opponent.” On the other hand, “he does not accuse himself, he does not rush to the cross, he does not adapt, he does not ingratiate himself.” It only helps: “be together.”
The two party leaders, Meuthen and Chrupalla, have been at odds since Meuthen led the AfD “wing” into disbanding and expelled Brandenburg AfD leader Andreas Kalbitz from the party.
Past engagement
On Saturday night, the AfD party congress voted with a large majority in favor of the main proposal put forward by the federal executive board. This should represent a compromise between the currents, which is why it is striking how little the party leader Meuthen’s ideas find a place in him. The party wants to adhere to the mandatory pension insurance distribution system. In application 21, among other things, they talked about the abolition of politicians’ pensions. The AfD requires that a large part of future state employees be included in the mandatory pension insurance, as well as the self-employed. And in the section “Strengthening the private provision” it says: “For each child born with German citizenship and the center of his life in Germany, the state must make an additional payment of 100 euros per month up to the age of 18 in savings accounts of the respective children “.
The party congress refused to consider a motion that party leader Meuthen had previously announced. It was the proof of citizenship money. It is a basic income that is linked to the status of German citizenship and is paid directly to the citizen in the form of negative income tax, it said in the application. That the party congress does not want to deal with that at all, that is also a clear message for Meuthen.
