For the time being, the AfD will continue to be led by at least two “federal spokespersons”.

From the election of the board in two years, however, there is the possibility of a one-man leadership.

That's what the delegates at the AfD party conference in Riesa, Saxony, decided on Friday.

Andreas Nefger

Editor in Politics.

  • Follow I follow

A good 69 percent of the delegates voted in favor of the motion, which was submitted by Thuringia's state chairman Björn Höcke, among others.

It envisages that in Riesa the federal executive board will still be elected according to the currently valid statutes with two to three chairpersons.

From the next federal party conference onwards, the party will only be led by one or two chairmen.

This ended speculation that Tino Chrupalla, who has led the AfD alone since Jörg Meuthen left the party at the beginning of the year, could be elected sole chairman in Riesa.

Höcke, who is located on the extreme right in the AfD, pleaded once again for the one-pointer.

With a view to the notorious camp disputes at the top of the party, however, he said that the board to be elected in Riesa first had to show that harmonious cooperation was possible before a new regulation could be adopted.

Several delegates advocated, some passionately, for the current arrangement to be retained in order to ensure a lasting balance between the currents.

At the beginning of the three-day AfD party conference, the right-wing camp had suffered a defeat.

The Brandenburg state board had requested in advance that the delegates deal with Andreas Kalbitz's personnel.

The federal executive had expelled the former Brandenburg state chief and organizational head of the far-right “wing” from the party in 2020 and banned him from appearing at AfD events.

His state association, where Andreas Kalbitz still has many supporters, wanted to have the lifting of the ban on performances voted on in Riesa.

But it won't come to that.

Several delegates called for the motion from Brandenburg not to be included on the agenda.

In the end, 54 percent of the almost 500 delegates voted not to deal with it.