In Baden-Württemberg, the AfD wants to clarify the successor to Alice Weidel. It should be exciting at the party congress – also for the protection of the constitution.
Stuttgart – Overshadowed by the surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Southwest AfD struggled in Stuttgart at the weekend to decide on their future political course. Alice Weidel, leader of the Bundestag parliamentary group and recently also co-leader of the federal party, wants to concentrate on her offices in Berlin and step down in Baden-Württemberg. A big topic at the party conference should be that the entire state association is now being observed by the Baden-Württemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) only announced this on Thursday (July 14) – two days before the party conference – in Stuttgart. The Southwest authority sees “sufficiently weighty factual evidence” for anti-constitutional efforts in the AfD Baden-Württemberg. The secret service agents are allowed to take a closer look at the right-wing populists, observe members under strict conditions, monitor phones, recruit informants.
A fierce rift continues through the Südwest party. Some of the members stand for a more moderate, right-wing conservative course. The other part sympathizes with the “wing”, which is now classified as right-wing extremist, which is actually dissolved – but still has structural and significant influence on the state association, as President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Beate Bube said on Thursday.
AfD in Baden-Württemberg: Unclear in which direction it will go
Martin Hess, police officer and member of the Bundestag, wants to become Weidel’s successor and has already called for his party to be differentiated from “problematic groups and people”. He sees himself as belonging to a moderate current in the party, is close to Weidel and is already Vice-President of the regional association.
Dirk Spaniel, another member of the Bundestag, also wants to run for the presidency in the southwest – but with a different orientation. Spaniel calls for a turnaround and a jolt through the party. In the past, he was repeatedly said to be close to the folkish-national “wing”.
It is so far completely unclear whether other candidates can be nominated or whether there will be a double leadership again. Another public mudslinging cannot be ruled out for the AfD. In the state elections last year, the party had to accept heavy losses, but still ended up in the Baden-Württemberg parliament with around 9.7 percent. Between 800 and 1000 participants are expected at the party conference. (nak/dpa)
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