Five AfD Party Conferences

Over on his blog, Andreas Kemper has an interesting piece (in German) on the five state-level party conferences the AfD has held last weekend. According to him, the outcomes of the conferences demonstrate that the party has shifted further to the right in four (Hesse, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt) of these five cases. A sixth party…

A Semi-Official Split in the (Thuringia) AfD

Putsch in the AfD?

Various media report this morning that the AfD caucus in the Thuringia state parliament has asked two of their MPs – Jens Krumpe and Oskar Helmerich – to resign their select committee memberships and/or has withdrawn the whip from them. Both had refused to sign the “Erfurt Resolution” that was initiated by their leader Björn…

Update on the Afd “Putsch”

Update on the Afd

“Der Flügel” (the “wing” or “tendency”) within Germany’s AfD that drew up the Erfurt manifesto, which calls for a more radical rightist approach to politics, claims that more than 700 people have signed the declaration within the first 24 hours. Taking a leaf out of the social-media savvy main party’s book, they have created a…

Putsch in the AfD?

Putsch in the AfD? 5

In a recent research paper, I conclude that judging by their EP 2014 manifesto, the ‘Alternative for Germany’ is currently not a right-wing populist party. But I also argue that some members of the party elite “represent less savoury brands of right-wing politics that could ultimately prove more attractive to voters than Lucke’s polite exercises…

The AfD simplifies its leadership structure – major power struggle ahead?

The AfD’s national party conference has approved a change to the party’s constitution will give the party a simplified leadership structure, which will more closely resemble those of the dreaded ‘Altparteien’ (‘old’ or established parties) CDU, CSU, FDP, and SPD. After a period of transition, the AfD will have a single ‘Vorsitzender’ (party chair), supported…