2024 AfD federal party convention

Last updated

The 15th Federal Party Congress of the Alternative for Germany took place on June 29th and 30th, 2024, at the Grugahalle in Essen. Among other matters, the federal executive board was newly elected. [1]

Contents

Congress

Grugahalle in Essen Grugahalle.jpg
Grugahalle in Essen

The city of Essen attempted to prevent the congress at the Grugahalle, partly due to Nazi slogans from AfD members and to avoid the anticipated chaotic conditions from the congress and counter-demonstrations. [2] On June 4th, Messe Essen terminated the rental contract with AfD following disputes over conditions regarding potential Nazi remarks by congress speakers. AfD initiated legal action and was allowed to hold their congress in Grugahalle as planned. In 2015, the significant 4th Federal Party Congress in the Essen Grugahalle occurred, which led to the strengthening of the right-wing faction that still dominates the party.

Executive board election

The federal chairs Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel were re-elected with significant support, with Chrupalla receiving more votes than Weidel. New to the board, among others, was Young Alternative for Germany leader Hannes Gnauck, who narrowly secured his position in the third round of voting. [1]

Chrupalla received 82.7%, Weidel 79.8%. [3]

Newly elected federal executive board [4] [5]
PositionElected individuals
Federal Chairperson Alice Weidel, Tino Chrupalla
Deputy Federal Chairperson Stefan Brandner, Peter Boehringer, Kay Gottschalk (new)
Federal Treasurer Carsten Hütter
Deputy Federal Treasurer Alexander Jungbluth (new)
Secretary Dennis Hohloch
Advisory Board Members Dirk Brandes (new), Hannes Gnauck (new), Marc Jongen, Martin Reichardt, Roman Reusch, Heiko Scholz (new)

Other matters

A proposal to elect only one federal chairperson and one Secretary General instead of two federal chairpersons was narrowly rejected.[ citation needed ] with 51% of the vote. [6]

Counter-protests

Approximately 300 organizations called for protests against the congress, with some forming the coalition "Widersetzen". Some organizations advocated for active resistance and blockade of the congress, leading the Essen Police to anticipate their largest deployment in city history. Over the weekend, the area around the convention center was closed to motorists. In Essen, 32 counter-protests occurred from Friday to Sunday, with the largest event attracting about 50,000 demonstrators on Saturday afternoon, followed by approximately 25,000 in the afternoon. Smaller protest marches took place on Sunday. Essen Mayor Thomas Kufen, who sought to prevent the congress in advance, participated in the protest, which was criticized by AfD. The counter-protest against the congress was the largest demonstration ever held in Essen. [7]

There were predominantly peaceful protests, but there were also incidents of disturbance and vandalism by left-wing extremist demonstrators, resulting in injuries to 28 police officers. [7] Additionally, hundreds of activists attempted disruptions to prevent AfD delegates from attending the congress, leading to delays. AfD delegate Stefan Hrdy reportedly bit a demonstrator who had allegedly harassed him and spat at two SPD politicians. [8]

Ruhrbahn  [ de ] temporarily renamed the U-Bahn station Messe West-Süd/Gruga to #Vielfalt as a sign of protest against AfD. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundestag</span> Federal parliament of Germany

The Bundestag is the German federal parliament and the lower of two federal chambers, opposed to the upper chamber, the Bundesrat. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people, comparable to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom or the United States House of Representatives. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949 as one of the legislative bodies of Germany and thus it is the historical successor to the earlier Reichstag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Democratic Union of Germany</span> Centre-right political party in Germany

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essen</span> City in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Essen is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of 586,608 makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as the ninth-largest city of Germany. Essen lies in the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, second largest by GDP in the EU, and is part of the cultural area of Rhineland. Because of its central location in the Ruhr, Essen is often regarded as the Ruhr's "secret capital". Two rivers flow through the city: the Emscher in the north, and in the south the Ruhr River, which is dammed in Essen to form the Lake Baldeney (Baldeneysee) and Lake Kettwig reservoirs. The central and northern boroughs of Essen historically belong to the Low German (Westphalian) language area, and the south of the city to the Low Franconian Bergish area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative for Germany</span> Political party in Germany

Alternative for Germany is a far-right and right-wing populist political party in Germany. The AfD is Eurosceptic, and opposes immigration to Germany – especially of Muslims. The German judiciary has classified the party as a "suspected extremist" party, although it does not reject democracy.

We Citizens is a political party in Germany. Formerly Liberal Conservative Reformers, it was known from July 2015 to November 2016 as ALFA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Pretzell</span> German politician and lawyer (born 1973)

Marcus Pretzell is a German politician and was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany from 2016 to 2019. He was a member of the Alternative for Germany, part of the Europe of Nations and Freedom and was a member of The Blue Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jörg Meuthen</span> German economist and politician (born 1961)

Jörg Hubert Meuthen is a German economist, academic and Independent politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Germany from 2017 until 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 German federal election</span>

Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, chose not to run again, marking the first time that an incumbent Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany did not seek re-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Weidel</span> German politician (born 1979)

Alice Elisabeth Weidel is a German politician who has been serving as co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party alongside Tino Chrupalla since June 2022. Since October 2017, she has held the position of leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Weidel became a member of the Bundestag (MdB) in the 2017 federal election, where she was the AfD's lead candidate alongside Alexander Gauland. In the 2021 federal election, she once again served as their lead candidate, alongside Tino Chrupalla. From February 2020 to July 2022, Weidel held the position of chairwoman of the AfD state association in Baden-Württemberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kretschmer</span> German politician

Michael Kretschmer is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017. Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messe Essen</span>

The Messe Essen is the exhibition centre of the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Rüttenscheid borough near the Grugapark. It is the 9th largest exhibition centre in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tino Chrupalla</span> German politician

Tino Chrupalla is a German politician of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, and Member of the Bundestag since 2017. In November 2019, he was nominated by Alexander Gauland to replace him as co-chairman and later elected to the position. Since 2019, Chrupalla has served as chairman and lead spokesman for the AfD.

Joana Cotar is a German politician who has been a member of the Bundestag since the 2017 German federal election. Until November 2022, she was a member for the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guido Reil</span> German politician

Guido Reil is a German politician who is serving as an Alternative for Germany Member of the European Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Buschmann</span> German lawyer and politician (born 1977), Federal Minister of Justice

Marco Buschmann is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Justice in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021. He has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2009 to 2013 and again since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martina Renner</span> German politician

Martina Renner is a German politician of The Left who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013 and one of six deputy leaders of her party since 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Spaniel</span> German politician

Dirk Spaniel is a German politician. Dirk Spaniel has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Bavarian state election</span> German state election

The 2023 Bavarian state election was held on 8 October 2023 to elect the members of the 19th Landtag of Bavaria. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the Free Voters of Bavaria (FW) led by Minister-President of Bavaria Markus Söder. The 2023 Hessian state election was held the same day.

The Alternative Mitte sometimes referred to as Alternative Mitte Deutschland is a faction and political association within the Alternative for Germany party which was formed in 2017 and presents itself as "liberal patriotic" and "conservative." It has been described by commentators as being founded as a counterweight and a response to the more hardline Der Flügel wing of the AfD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Potsdam far-right meeting</span> Meeting about deporting people from Germany

On 25 November 2023, a group of right-wing extremists met at the Adlon Mansion on Lake Lehnitz in Potsdam, Germany. At the event, Martin Sellner, an Austrian right-wing extremist presented a plan for the deportation of certain parts of the German populace, namely asylum seekers, foreigners with a residence permit, and "non-assimilated" German citizens. The meeting was attended by members of the German right-wing populist party AfD, the mainstream centre-right party Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Werteunion, and the far-right Identitarian movement, among others. The meeting was exposed by the investigative journalism organization Correctiv, which published its findings on 10 January 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 phoenix (June 29, 2024). "phoenix LIVE: AfD Federal Party Congress in Essen" . Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  2. ↑ tagesschau.de. "Essen Exhibition Center terminates rental contract for AfD Federal Party Congress" (in German). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ dta. "Federal Executive Board". Alternative for Germany (in German). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ n-tv NACHRICHTEN (June 29, 2024). "AfD elects five new members to the executive board" (in German). NTV. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  6. ↑
  7. 1 2 "AfD Congress: "The largest protests Essen has ever seen"" (in German). WELT. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ "AfD delegate bites and spits at demonstrators in Essen". ZDF Info (in German). ZDF. June 30, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  9. ↑ Martin Spletter (June 27, 2024). "AfD Congress in Essen: Ruhrbahn renames station" (in German). Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved July 1, 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.