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At the start of the AfD party congress, its chairman gives an angry speech that is second to none. The reactions show how divided the party is.
“Rumkrakelen or rumprollen”: Appearances by the AfD parliamentary group made the party look frowned upon, says Jörg Meuthen.
Keystone
Preparations by all parties made it clear in the morning that there would be no normal party convention on Saturday at the Wunderland amusement park in Kalkar. Police expected a large-scale operation and warned of expected roadblock protests.
The AfD also took precautions: the party executive sent a notable decision that morning. The party affirmed the “free democratic basic order in the sense of the Basic Law,” it said. Right-wing populists apparently thought it natural for them to be explicitly mentioned. After the turmoil in the Bundestag made possible by AfD members last week, the junta feared that very different images could emerge in Kalkar.
However, just two hours after the start, a notable appearance made it clear how unusual this party congress was supposed to be. In fact, he wanted to talk about the issue of pensions, party leader Jörg Meuthen said at noon as he entered the lectern. But there are simply more important things. What followed was an angry speech that is unparalleled even for the mostly turbulent party congresses of the AfD.
“Due to these incidents, people no longer choose us”
For half an hour, Meuthen ruthlessly adjusted accounts with his own people in front of 500 delegates in the Kalkar exhibition hall. “I say that you can and should not go further,” he warned, referring to the recent unrest in the Bundestag made possible by AfD parliamentarians. “Either we take the curve here, or we fail and get into very rough seas.”
The buzz in the hall grew with the ever-new accusations from the party leader on Saturday. Because it was also clear that the struggle for power over the future course, which the AfD really wanted to avoid in Kalkar, is intensifying. The party was at a crossroads, Meuthen probably also said in the speech of the leaders of the Berlin parliamentary group Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel, who were also on the podium.
“Everything can break,” Meuthen yelled. “Rumkrakelen or rumprollen”, as the party had to live in the Bundestag, let the AfD appear in a bad light. “People don’t vote for us anymore for incidents like this,” Meuthen railed. The party degenerates into a “motley circus”.
Gauland: “I did not understand the attack”
How divided the party is at the moment, the reaction to the appearance gave an idea. The approval was muted. About a third of the delegates paid tribute to Meuthen’s speech with applause. Other delegates loudly urged Meuthen to resign. As a result, the party conference leadership turned off the microphone in anger.
Honorary President Gauland spoke of a speech that was partly divisive. “I did not understand the attack on the parliamentary group,” he said. The party leader does not have to interfere in this discussion. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
For the AfD, with this start of the party congress, which was actually supposed to evoke unity, even more difficult times are dawning. The meeting is under observation anyway, because the AfD rejected the mandatory mask requirement. Because not all the delegates adhered to the guidelines. The city of Kalkar even threatened to break the party congress in case of rapes.
Meuthen’s co-chief, Tino Chrupalla, opened the party conference with a completely different speech. He harshly criticized the authorities and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. There are “uncontrolled attacks against the AfD,” Chrupalla said. The courts and the protection of the constitution are often “on the other side.” Chrupalla, however, did not mention his own violations in the Bundestag. Criticism of the AfD from politics and the authorities only serves to destroy the AfD as a political party. The »smear campaign only ends when the AfD« is under the table.
In view of the dispute over the party leadership, the real reason for the party congress initially faded into the background. Seven years after its founding, the AfD wanted to advise on a pension and social concept. Discussions on this topic should continue in the afternoon.
