Personnel quake in the AfD!
After a long internal power struggle, long-time AfD chairman Jörg Meuthen (60) is leaving the party. Meuthen confirmed on Friday that he would resign and leave the AfD. WDR, NDR and the ARD capital studio had previously reported.
In his opinion, parts of the AfD “are not based on the free-democratic basic order”, Meuthen justified his departure from the party.
According to ARD information, he himself spoke of a defeat in the power struggle with the formally dissolved right-wing extremist wing of the party to align the AfD.
Meuthen combined his exit announcement with harsh criticism of the state of his party: “The heart of the party today beats very far to the right and it actually beats constantly,” he said. “I clearly see totalitarian overtones there.”
AfD have developed something cult-like
Meuthen admitted that he had failed as party leader with his commitment to a different path. Especially in the Corona policy, the AfD has developed something cult-like. At best, he sees a future for the AfD as an East German regional party.
Meuthen had been at odds with his party for a long time. In the past two years, the economist has repeatedly advocated a more moderate course for the AfD. In doing so, he made enemies, especially in the right-wing movement around the Thuringian head of state Björn Höcke.
Meuthen’s relationship with his co-chairman Tino Chrupalla (46) and party deputy Alice (42) Weidel is considered broken. In the ARD interview, Meuthen named several of his adversaries by name: “Not to forget Chrupalla, Weidel, Gauland, Höcke, Brandner – they will be really happy that Meuthen is finally gone,” he said – and added: “Have she’s been working on it for a long time.”
Meuthen no longer wanted to run for the presidency
Meuthen had already announced in autumn that he would no longer run for party chairmanship in the AfD. This had already been taken as an admission of defeat in the power struggle against the extreme right wing of the party and against its opponents on the party executive.
Meuthen was elected as one of two co-chairs in the summer of 2015, at that time alongside Frauke Petry (46), who left the party a good two years later. While the relationship between the two was considered tense, Meuthen got along well with the later co-chairman Alexander Gauland (80) for a long time. The relationship between Meuthen and Tino Chrupalla, who is now the sole leader of the party, was difficult from the very beginning.
Meuthen wants to keep his mandate as a member of the European Parliament in the right-wing populist group “Identity and Democracy”. He also wants to be politically active in the future.