AfD election campaign: internal unrest

The AfD is deeply divided. And then there are also issues that dominate the public debate that the party is not interested in. The election campaign is making slow progress.

Actually, it is election campaign time, actually the AfD should now advertise for votes as a whole. But there is no trace of that. There is still great unrest in many places. It is about possible party exclusion proceedings against members and about stories like this: just under 72 euros, a hefty hourly wage that AfD boss Tino Chrupalla allows his driver.

There is a lot of excitement in internal chats of the party, which actually wants to be there for the so-called little people. The driver is paid for from the campaign budget for the top duo – consisting of Chrupalla and parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel. The ARD capital studio the hourly wage from the AfD federal board has been confirmed. Chrupalla claims not to know about it, but, it is said, he even campaigned personally for the high wages.

“How do you explain that to our AfD members?”

The driver is said to be a former police officer and should therefore also be able to ensure Chrupalla’s safety. For the salary he could have put several drivers and security guards in his car, one at a time. The federal executive board expects to have to transfer around 11,500 euros per month. For comparison: the drivers of the Bundestag transport service earn up to 15 euros an hour. A member of the federal executive board says that it was downright shocked: “How do you explain this to our AfD members, who will soon be hanging up voluntary election posters?”

Many of Chrupalla’s party friends are happy to pass the story on. As long as the dispute between the different camps in the AfD has not been resolved, the desire to damage the reputation of the other remains great. At the same time, the fronts are so hardened that a factual discussion purely internally no longer seems possible.

The lists are up

What some of the party have suspected for a long time is becoming more and more true: the most important choice for AfD officials themselves is probably the election to the board at the end of the year. Then the internal balance of power could shift. The federal election? Already works somehow. Which does not mean that there has not been a violent argument over the list positions for it in the past few months. “There was a monstrous war in some regional associations,” is how one describes it.

The lists are now in place. In the East in particular, as expected, the candidates from the circles of the at least officially dissolved, right-wing extremist “wing” network prevailed. In other federal states, on the other hand, such as Lower Saxony, the proponents of Jörg Meuthen’s course are primarily on the promising places. In addition, almost traditionally deep personal dislikes among party friends caused a lot of arguments behind the scenes. In the ZDF summer interview, even AfD boss Meuthen had to admit that he could not support all list candidates of his own party without hesitation in the election campaign. The disruption of the AfD can hardly be summed up more clearly.

“Deep Trench Warfare”

Those who made it onto the list are happy to be able to move into the Bundestag (again) with a high degree of probability. The losers, on the other hand, are deeply frustrated. “Instead of fighting in the election campaign, we are stuck in deep trench warfare,” describes a member of the Bundestag who was able to defend a good position on the list. He doesn’t feel anything about the optimism. He’s not the only one who misses getting a signal from his top candidates, finally a clear direction. “What is our topic now that we want to score with?” He asks. Others also report a certain lack of orientation at the start of the election campaign. The slogan for it, “Germany. But normal.”, Is handy, but at the same time very arbitrary. Instead of dealing with such homeland issues, Chrupalla is more likely to try to become an international statesman.

First at a security conference in Russia, then a trip to Slovakia – it should have been about questions of economic cooperation. When the extent of the flood disaster was already clearly visible last Thursday morning, Churpalla sent a press release congratulations in Spanish to the right-wing populists there, who had successfully sued the Constitutional Court against Corona measures.

Even in the AfD federal office, some are said to have rubbed their eyes at the worst possible time. Incidentally, a new press spokesman is responsible for this, specially hired for the top candidates, also financed from the campaign budget. The actual press spokesman of the party, who has thus actually been degraded, is too close to Meuthen, they say. The internal power struggle has long led to a confusion of jurisdiction – and they also cost the AfD money.

Chrupalla in Rhineland-Palatinate

After all, Chrupalla went to Rhineland-Palatinate to shovel the mud one day later. His top colleague Alice Weidel left it with social media posts. It was difficult to do otherwise because she is still on vacation. Candidates from other parties also allowed themselves such a break in the summer. In the AfD it does not go uncommented. “Weidel has never distinguished himself through excessive work”, this sentence of a member of the Bundestag confirms without hesitation many others. And they tell with relish what they heard about the planned election campaign bus tour through Germany. This should start in the second week of August: 14 dates in different federal states.

Chrupalla has already agreed to all of them. Weidel only three or four at first, they say from their environment. In any case, there are some federal states that Weidel do not like to travel to, says a member of the Bundestag from Bavaria. “Weidel can’t stand our state chairman, she doesn’t come from there either.” In Hesse, the home of Joana Cotar, who wanted to be the top candidate instead of Weidel, she is said to have already canceled appointments. Even an influential parliamentary group member who is on Weidel’s side in the internal power structure wonders whether she is really interested in this top candidate.

Not an issue for the AfD

Inexplicable even for AfDler: that these persistently violent internal disputes have no effect at all on the polls. The party has been there for many months at around ten percent. Many have long since come to terms with this. Others still dream of reactivating their “brand essence”, as they call it: the migration issue. Perhaps more refugees would come across the Mediterranean or the Balkan routes after all, then something would definitely work, they say.

But after the floods, discussions about climate change continue. Most of the AfD agree with whom you can score points. “Meeting climate change positively” is the chapter in the AfD election manifesto. Nobody denies global warming, stands there and on: “But the AfD doubts that this will only have negative consequences.” After all, “warm periods have always led to a flourishing of life and cultures”, whereas cold periods have led to “hardship, hunger and war”. An AfD member of the Bundestag strongly doubts whether they will win votes with these sentences in Ahrweiler, Hagen and the other flood crisis areas. He had only recently read it to his wife, whose answer was silent: incredulous looks and shakes of the head.