Rottweil
Tumults and blockades: Alice Weidel’s AfD state association’s party conference descends into chaos
Alice Weidel at the state party conference in Rottweil: “We want to work together to ensure that the state association finds itself in calm waters”
© Christoph Schmidt / DPA
The Southwest AfD party conferences were often chaotic. But this time it was particularly turbulent because the power struggle between Alice Weidel and Dirk Spaniel was exceptionally violent.
Tumults, boos, blockades: the Baden-Württemberg one AfD fought an hour-long argument in the Rottweiler town hall over the holding of its own party conference. Board members argued in the open on Saturday and turned off each other’s microphones. Opposing camps shouted and booed each other. It was only in the afternoon that a meeting leader was elected for the event, which was actually supposed to start at 10 a.m.
The reason was the overcrowding of the town hall, which only offers 1,040 seats. The Southwest AfD does not send delegates to the party conferences; every ordinary member is allowed to come. It is difficult to predict in advance how many people will appear from which camps. Since far too many AfD supporters arrived in Rottweil on Saturday morning, all members and guests were initially expelled from the hall.
Security guards are looking for voting machines
Afterwards, only those eligible to vote were allowed back into the hall. Guests had to stay outside. In the afternoon, additional members were accredited to fill remaining vacant places. The hall was searched for voting machines by security guards during the evacuation, as a rumor was circulating that individual members had had several voting machines given to them.
Several board members spoke out in favor of canceling the party conference; they claimed that voting members were turned away at the door. From their point of view, this would mean that a board election could be challenged retrospectively. If not all voting members come into the hall at the end, it could actually be that the event has to be canceled. The party leadership said that members entitled to vote could not be turned away. According to the information, more than 1,040 people are not allowed into the hall for security reasons.
Power struggle between Alice Weidel and Dirk Spaniel
There’s a lot at stake in Rottweil. The board of the state party was supposed to be re-elected on Saturday. The committee is considered very divided. Seven board members are currently dissatisfied with co-chairmen Markus Frohnmaier and Emil Sanzen. 22 district associations had called for the special party conference to be held in order to resolve the blockade situation – also with a view to the upcoming local and European elections. According to reports, there is a long-simmering power struggle between Bundestag parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel and Bundestag member Dirk Spaniel. Spaniel is said to be behind the seven board members, Frohnmaier is considered to be in Weidel’s camp.
Four hours after the planned start of the party conference, the members were still arguing heatedly about whether the party conference could even be held legally. “We want to work together to ensure that the state association finds itself in calm waters so that it is prepared for the local and European elections,” said Weidel. “We cannot afford to drag out the conflict in the state executive board any further.”