There are massive internal disputes in the Thuringian AfD, led by Björn Höcke. According to information from “Stern”, Höcke’s state executive committee has initiated expulsion proceedings against nine party members.
Among them is a member of the state parliamentary group, which is also led by Höcke. The members had “violated the party’s rules in a particularly serious manner and thereby caused it serious damage,” it said in a letter to the state arbitration court. It is a “conspiracy” against grassroots democratic decisions. The 16-page paper is available to “Stern”.
The deputy Thuringian AfD state chairman Torben Braga confirmed the state executive board’s decision. “Those affected deliberately disregarded or thwarted the decisions of the party committees,” he told “Stern”. The request for party exclusion is therefore a logical and necessary consequence. AfD member of the state parliament Karlheinz Frosch, who is threatened with expulsion, said that he was calm about the proceedings. “We represent the real AfD, and I will stay with it,” he told “Stern”. “I won’t let myself be driven away.”
The background to the dispute is the entry of two competing AfD lists for the district council of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. In the opinion of MP Frosch, Höcke alone bears responsibility for the internal party dispute. “He is a self-absorbed person with narcissistic traits who cannot tolerate criticism,” he said. “It is he who repeatedly harms the party with ill-considered slogans. Without the polarization by the state chairman, the AfD would be more electable and more compatible with other parties.” On May 26th, in addition to the district councils and the city and municipal councils, most of the district administrators, mayors and full-time mayors will be newly elected in Thuringia.