The Brandenburg AfD member of the Bundestag Norbert Kleinwächter wants to compete against the incumbent party leader Tino Chrupalla in the upcoming election of the party leader. Kleinwächter told the German Press Agency that he would accept the proposal made by numerous party members and stand as a candidate at the federal party conference in a week and a half. “There is a strong desire among members for a fresh start, both in content and style,” he added.
Kleinwächter, who has no support from the representatives of the right-wing movement in the Brandenburg state association, said in a video that he published on his Facebook page on Tuesday: “We cannot be a party in which everything is somehow possible, because we need it a clear identity.” The AfD must stand for “what we decided in the basic program”.
The past state elections, in which the AfD had lost votes, had shown that “the team of Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel is not working well,” said Kleinwächter. Chrupalla heads the AfD parliamentary group together with Weidel.
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Kleinwächter’s supporters include several prominent representatives of the party wing that describes itself as moderate. The AfD is essentially a “liberal-conservative party,” said Kleinwächter. He rejects efforts by some members to question this and to steer the party in the direction of “social patriotism”.
The AfD will elect a new federal executive committee at its three-day federal party conference, which begins on June 17 in Riesa, Saxony. According to the currently valid version of the statutes, there are two or three federal speakers at the head of the party. In the AfD, the chairpersons are called “federal spokespersons”. Since long-time AfD leader Jörg Meuthen left the party in January, Chrupalla has been the sole leader of the party. He has announced a renewed candidacy.
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