parties
Several parties reported increases in membership in January
Following revelations about a meeting of right-wing extremist activists in Potsdam, several parties have reported increases in membership – including the AfD. The Greens say they are seeing strong growth. photo
© Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Reports of a meeting between right-wing extremists and politicians have mobilized people. In many places people are taking to the streets. Some parties are talking about growing interest in joining – including the very ones that many are demonstrating against.
Following the revelations about a meeting of right-wing extremist activists in Potsdam, several parties are making noise Increase in membership – including the AfD. The Greens say they are seeing strong growth.
“We Greens have had over 2,600 members join our party since the beginning of January,” said the party’s federal political director, Emily Büning, when asked on Wednesday. According to the party, this is a record number compared to an average of almost 700 entries per month in 2023. There were recently similarly high numbers in the 2021 federal election campaign. According to the party executive’s assessment, the latest development could also be related to the fact that people wanted to counteract the activities of right-wing extremist forces.
The Left is also expecting a strong increase, even if the party was only able to provide information on online applications because these were recorded on a daily basis. The comparison of written entries and exits takes longer. 484 people entered via the online form between January 10th and 21st. In the same period last year there were only 50.
On January 10th, the media company Correctiv made public a meeting of radical right-wingers on November 25th in Potsdam, in which AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union took part. The former head of the Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” at the meeting. When right-wing extremists use this term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
Large demonstrations nationwide
After the revelations, there were large demonstrations against right-wing extremism and for democracy in numerous cities. There was sometimes massive criticism of the AfD.
The SPD says it has seen increased interest in joining for a few days, but cannot provide any specific figures. A CSU spokesman said: “The number of admissions increased noticeably in the second week of January.” The CDU said: “We have recorded an above-average number of new entries in the last few days.” Since the membership numbers are collected decentrally in the state associations, it is currently not possible to give the exact number for January, said a spokesman. The FDP stated that it would generally not announce any interim results.
According to its own statements, reports about the meeting did not harm the AfD. Between January 10th and January 22nd, around 1,400 new applications for admission were received, a spokesman said upon request. In the same period there were resignations “in the mid double-digit range”.
The party has gained just over 1,000 new members since the beginning of the year and currently has around 41,000 members, said the spokesman. However, he pointed out that due to a one-month objection period, memberships completed in January resulted from applications for membership that had already been submitted in 2023.