Comment: Total loss with announcement for the AfD

Accusations of corruption, suspicion of espionage and now a ban on the appearance of the leading candidate Krah: the AfD has driven full speed into the wall. And Krah is not an isolated case in the party.

The AfD drove full speed into the wall without even closing its eyes. At the party’s European election meeting last summer, delegates elected Maximilian Krah as their top candidate with 65.7 percent. Almost two-thirds therefore thought that the MEP and Höcke confidant was the right person for the job – a complete misjudgment.

There were already justified doubts at the time. Krah’s membership in the ID group in Brussels had just been suspended for several months for the second time. There were accusations of manipulation and even then there were fears that something else could happen.

Quite apart from Krah’s open sympathies for Russia and China, which were also reflected in his voting behavior: Quite a few in the AfD also considered Krah’s personality unsuitable to lead the party in the European election campaign.

Top candidate, which has become unbearable

But the critical voices could not or would not prevail against the dominant camp around Björn Höcke. The party leadership also stood behind Krah and thus led the AfD into catastrophe. Now she has to go into the European elections with a top candidate who has become intolerable.

Legally there is no other way. A withdrawal would invalidate the entire electoral list, and it is not enough to exclude either. Krah’s name is now on every ballot paper, but he has to make himself invisible during the election campaign. It couldn’t be more grotesque, but the AfD has itself to blame for that. Above all, the party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla.

Their handling of the developments of the past few weeks seemed increasingly helpless. Corruption allegations against leading candidates, suspicion of espionage, the ruling from Münster on the classification by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution – all just part of a campaign against the AfD?

The AfD leadership only took action late

This narrative is increasingly reaching its limits. This is also shown by Marine Le Pen’s reaction to Krah’s latest provocation. If even the closest friends turn away, it would be high time to rethink.

It is all the more remarkable that the AfD leadership has only now taken action against Krah and has not condemned what he said about the SS in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica, which was trivializing. Instead, they are talking about “massive damage to the party” for which Krah provided the pretext.

This is also the explanation for the total loss that the AfD suffered with Krah. Not only did they not know any better, they did not want to know any better. Because Krah may be a loner, but he is not an isolated case in the AfD.