In the last couple of weeks, much has been said and written about the turning tide in German public opinion on refugees, the growing rift between Merkel and the CSU, the potential of a back-bench rebellion against the chancellor and party leader etc. But one of the most interesting (in my book) details is buried…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Photo by Metropolico.org [/caption] Yesterday, the AfD has filed legal complaints against the chancellor with the public prosecutor, arguing that suspending the Dublin agreement violates the section of the penal code which bans human trafficking. As political PR stunts go, this is not a bad one: It cost the party exactly…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Photo by Athos fotografias [/caption] A mere two weeks after being sacked as the AfD’s supreme leader, Bernd Lucke is back as presumably undisputed chair of the new “Alfa” (Allianz für Fortschritt und Aufbruch ~ Alliance for Progress and a New Beginning) party. Apparently, he already envisions a resounding success in…
In my recent article on the Alternative für Deutschland party, I stress the fact that the AfD is built on an alliance of assorted right-wingers. With no upcoming election campaigns in sight, things have come to a head over the last months, and the various factions have set up [caption id="" align="alignright" width="500"] Photo by…
I’m currently updating my previous analysis of the Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) activities on Facebook, with a view of this eventually morphing into a paper for APSA 2015. Preliminary analyses show that their fanpage remains a hotspot for rightwingers, with high levels of activity through 2013 and 2014. For 2015, the trajectory slopes slightly downward.
The AfD’s Flügel faction has met at the Kyffhäuser monument, a century-old symbol of nationalism and anti-republicanism. Built after the death of emperor Wilhelm I, this neo-Gothic pile aims to link Prussian rule to legends about the return of an medieval predecessor. It quickly became a focus for the anti-democratic leagues of German soldiers. The…
At the Hessian party conference, arch-“conservative” Gauland wishes for a “liberal” wing without Lucke, whose supporters walk out. With a party like that, who needs political enemies? http://m.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/afd-gauland-will-liberalen-fluegel-ohne-lucke-13620465.html
Less than a year after the election, a third MP in Thuringia has left the AfD caucus in the Landtag, bringing down the number of their MPs to eight.
I’m currently in the process of digging deeper into what the AfD and their supporters do on Facebook and have collected almost eleven more months of posts. The emerging picture is rather clear. Overall, Lucke’s presence is still remarkable, but Petry is rapidly gaining ground.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="180"] Photo by *_* [/caption] My favourite if vaguely remembered piece of medieval history is the bit when assorted popes, antipopes, and anti-antipopes busily excommunicated each other. The AfD has reached that stage. A few days ago, Lucke forced a motion of the national executive that aims at unseating Höcke as party…