The AfD has confirmed its first candidate for chancellor, as polls show the party currently in second place. Co-leader Tino Chrupalla says the goal in the February elections is to exceed the 20% threshold.
ADVERTISEMENTThe far-right AfD party announced it had chosen Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor in the upcoming election at the start of a two-day rally in Riesa, in the eastern state of Saxony, one of its strongholds.
It is the first time in the party’s history that it has sought the possible position of chancellor by selecting an official candidate for the role.
Polls show the AfD in second place ahead of the February 23 election, with around 20% support. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla clearly formulated his party’s goals at the party conference in Riesa.
“Now we have to put the 20 percent behind us and keep climbing,” Chrupalla said.
However, Weidel – who this week spoke live with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has backed the party on his X platform – has no realistic chance of becoming Germany’s leader as other parties refuse to work with the AfD.
Weidel has been one of the most famous faces of the party for years. Its central theme is the alleged collapse of homeland security due to immigration.
Saturday’s conference got off to a slow start, more than an hour late, as anti-AfD protesters blocked several access roads.
There was a heavy police presence as thousands of protesters were expected. Police officers partially broke up a sit-in blockade at the intersection, and fireworks were thrown at police on the sidelines of another protest, German news agency dpa reported.
The CDU and SPD are also launching campaigns
The main conservative opposition bloc Union is leading the polls with around 30%, and its candidate, CDU leader Friedrich Merz, is the favorite to become the next chancellor.
At a CDU party meeting in Hamburg, Merz called for “fundamental changes” in German politics. “We are ready to take responsibility for our country, but we also know that things cannot continue as they have been for the past three years,” he said.
Meanwhile, centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz was confirmed as the SPD’s candidate at their party conference on Saturday. He is hoping for a come-from-behind victory, but so far there has been little sign of a significant breakthrough with polls showing support for his Social Democrats at 14-17%.
Both parties also campaigned on Saturday. In his speech to SPD delegates, Scholz began by comparing the political situation in Austria, where President Alexander Van der Bellen tasked right-wing FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl with trying to form a government.
Scholz said that Austria is on the verge of having an “extreme rightist” at the head of the government, “even though 70 percent of Austrians voted for democratic parties.”
“We are really at a crossroads in Germany,” he added.
Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notorious three-party coalition collapsed in November when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.
ADVERTISEMENTThe elections are being held seven months earlier than originally planned.
