AfD stays the course amid Petry-Pretzell “realpolitic” split

Germany's anti-immigrant AfD party has picked nationalist Alexander Gauland (left) and economist Alice Weidel as its top candidates for Germany's federal election. Notably missing is Frauke Petry.

By Carolyn Yeager

FAR FEWER DEMONSTRATORS AGAINST THE AFD PARTY CONGRESS' 2-day meeting in Cologne actually showed up than the 50,000 claimed to be expected. Only 8 to 10,000 filled the streets, which were easily controlled by the 4,000 well-prepared police on hand, even though two police officers were injured and a police car was set ablaze before things calmed down. Hateful comments from Church leaders brought push back from AfD co-chairman Frauke Petry in her speech on Saturday against their "ugly, deprecating and polarizing remarks." (See more on that below)

From the outside, the Congress moved along very smoothly, electing as their lead candidates in the Federal election in September two top vote-getters: Alexander Gauland from Berlin and economist Alice Weidel from Baden-Wurttemberg.

The main disagreement came early on Saturday when the delegates refused to consider the motion put forward by co-chairman Mrs. Petry to set the party on a more moderate course that would enable it to become part of governing coalitions. This was rejected by the majority, led by Alexander Gauland and co-Chairman Jörg Meuthen. Meuthen got a standing ovation when he said in his prepared remarks to the gathering that the AfD would never form an alliance with those like Merkel, Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz or the Greens, whose pro-migrant stances were wrecking Germany.

Unless Germany switches gears very soon, it will “with mathematical certainty turn into a Muslim country.” Meuthen said Germans in his hometown were now "few and far between." He likened the country to the Titanic.

"Everybody is still in good spirits and there's a relaxed party mood above and below deck but it's almost impossible for the huge ship to make the necessary change in direction anymore. People can't or don't want to imagine a collision with an iceberg but it's already unavoidable."

By contrast, Petry said a “lack of strategy” was behind the “internal strife” the party had been plagued with … strife that was played down by both Meuthen and Gauland. She was adamant that the party made a “mistake” in refusing to discuss her motion on its future direction (to moderate its tone to make it more palatable to a broader slice of the German electorate), and said at the conclusion on Sunday afternoon that "The party is not yet ready, you have to give it time. It will recognize in the coming months that certain decisions need to be taken. I have a responsibility to the party that elected me two years ago, and I will continue to fill that," she said.

Petry-Pretzell now a 'faction' hardening against the right?

Digging in their heels, Marcus Pretzell, state party chairman for North RhineWestphalia, announced on Sunday that he intends to take a different course than the federal party. "In North Rhine-Westphalia, we are pursuing a different, more realpolitical course than the federal party - both in personnel and content," he told the TV station Phoenix. Pretzell and Petry were married in December 2016 and are expecting a baby this summer.

So it is clear that the Petry-Pretzell faction will continue to try to moderate the party, including the removal of member Björn Höcke, and others like him, who have strong followings of passionate supporters.

Churches feel the need to weigh in

As reported in my April 19 post, both Protestant and Catholic church leaders in Cologne made negative comments about the Afd, 'in solidarity' with the violent left-wing demonstrators expected to be in the streets on Saturday. In addition, Catholic bishop Kardinal Rainer Maria Woelki said participants were out on the streets to emphasize "world-openness, tolerance and solidarity,” according to DW news. And director of their youth organization Bund Neudeutschland (ND), Claudi Lücking-Michel (shown above right) who is also a CDU parliamentarian in Merkel's ranks), described the AfD's policies as contrary to the Christian view of humanity.  

“The AfD is folk-nationalist and foreigner-hostile,” she said at the ND's executive meeting in Würzburg this weekend, and described its family and gender policies as attempts to "ethnically instrumentalize" (??) people of other origins. What are the AfD's family and gender policies?

“Delegates also endorsed measures to boost birthrates and promote families by motivating Germans to bring more children into the world to maintain what they termed the nation's Staatsvolk or "own constitutive people."

Claudi Lücking-Michel's name sounds part French. Enough said.