Lastly, it seemed as if alternative for Germany was on way to normality after election successes of recent period: it has deputies in almost all German parliaments, it collects campaign reimbursement from state, it chooses more and more Bundestag professional politician in ir leadership. She decides on important questions of power after careful preparation – just as or parties occasionally clarify in Kungelrunden who ascends and who still has to wait.

At party congress in Hanover it was planned to oppose reelected party leader Jörg Meun a representative of Moderate Party wing. A corrective that limits influence of Meun courted national conservatives. The chance was to install Berlin AfD-real politician Georg Pazderski in such a way that wing around Thuringian nationalist Björn Höcke could have lived with it. The Hinterzimmerdeal was close to completion. But n opportunity was squandered to display diverging currents in party leadership.

The outcome of first delegate meeting after Bundestag election shows who has say in AfD: The Höcke wing, which sent a guarantee woman against Pazderski into race. A candidacy that blew up all agreements and resulted in a degrading runoff without necessary majority came. With this power, Höckianer burned candidate Doris von Sayn-Wittgenstein, who, after her scarce failure, had fulfilled her task: to damage Pazderski permanently and ultimately to get into office.

© Michael Heck Tilman Steffen Editor in Department of Politics, Economy and society, time online to authors page

This showdown of Hanover reveals true core of AfD and shows: right edge is fraying furr into radical. Those backwards who would also restrict fundamental rights in order to engineer Germany into a Muslim-free nation state are driving everyone else in AfD. At top is now with Meun one, who is staged as an integrator, but who runs things in party and never sets himself. With Gaula, a national conservative advocate of fundamental opposition course is approaching. He wants to be governed by AfD at earliest when it is on par with "liberals" in Austria.

Split Center

It is now also refuted by common analysis that AfD is divided into three parts: in national conservative, bourgeois-temperate and anor third fickle, which sometimes hit one side, sometimes or. The degrading show fight between Pazderski and his challenger showed clearly as never: party is split in middle.

But impression that both halves are in balance, are deceiving. For national Conservatives are experienced and practiced to articulate ir interests effectively and to enforce m resolutely. At party top, two of ir warrants are now sitting. The moderate conservatives, on or hand, have recently organized mselves in alternative center. Meun and Gaula can present this alliance as evidence of intra-partisan plurality. But it is not noticeable that moderate members of Alliance are acting above all in hidden – in party-internally y are accused of splitting AfD.

In Hanover, too, her chance to expose as an alternative in alternative was squandered. Only irritating praise for trio of elected party vices Pazderski, Gottschalk and Glaser, of which at best Pazderski is a bourgeois-temperate, remained remembered. That borders on self-task.

The way you want party to be effective in next two years probably doesn't even know Meun and Gaula itself. Meun is now a member of European Parliament, his centre of life and work is located hundreds of kilometres from federal office. The 76-year-old Brandenburg provincial president, Gaula, has short way to Berlin party headquarters, but is busy with leadership of Bundestag group. As a result, party faces a leadership vacuum.

So far, experienced strategist has been able to pull strings in background as deputy party boss. Now that he was forced to top alongside Meun, informal position of secret party leader is to be reassigned.

Date Of Update: 04 December 2017, 12:03