AfD
Meuthen is aggressive
The long-time AfD boss Jörg Meuthen. Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Even after his retirement from the party leadership, the long-time AfD boss Jörg Meuthen is combative – and has a clear message to the opponents in his own party.
The long-time AfD leader Jörg Meuthen wants to stand up to his internal party opponents even after his withdrawal from the party leadership.
“Of course I know that many of those who did not contact me today are secretly happy,” he said in an interview published on Tuesday with the news portal “t-online”. «But their joy will not last. Because if you think that now you are rid of me, you are wrong. They’ll notice very quickly that I’m not gone. This is not a retreat. “
Meuthen said he could continue his political work if he took something back. “I don’t need a federal spokesperson to influence the party’s course. It’s like playing chess: if you only attack, you lose. ” His voice will remain audible. “It is clear that after so many years I will continue to campaign for the direction we are going.”
Meuthen also said that he assumed that he would have got a majority again at the party congress in December. “Whoever would have competed against me, I would have defeated him or her.”
Exchange of blows with Weidel
Meuthen announced his withdrawal from the party leadership on Monday. The 60-year-old wrote in a circular to the AfD members that he no longer wanted to run for chairman in the scheduled new election of the party executive committee in December. In the past two years, Meuthen has pleaded for a more moderate course for the AfD. In doing so, he made enemies, especially in the far-right wing of the AfD.
Meuthen again complained about what he saw as the poor performance of the AfD in the federal elections and accused parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel of glossing over the result “in old-party fashion”. Meuthen’s criticism was sharply rejected on Tuesday. “I believe that our election result is a very solid one,” she said “t-online”. The party won 16 direct mandates in the eastern federal states. “We will work hard to ensure that this does not remain an Eastern phenomenon,” said Weidel. “Talking badly out of Brussels’ pouting corner doesn’t get us any further.” Meuthen has been a member of the EU Parliament in Brussels for the AfD since the end of 2017.