State election Thuringia - Höcke under pressure: now there's the next revolt
The warning from party headquarters reached the members of the Thuringia AfD over the weekend. There is "deliberate sabotage" of the Landtag election campaign, the Landesvorstand informed. Decisions on "appropriate measures" will be made "shortly." The circular, which was sent out via email, is available to stern.
The latest dispute in the local party concerns two prevented direct candidates for the Landtag election on September 1st. The party leadership, under Björn Höcke, refused to accept their nomination in the constituency. First, they contested the election, which led the Landesschiedsgericht to suggest a new nomination assembly, but the elected candidates were successful in their legal proceedings. In the end, the Landesvorstand resorted to the last measure: They refused to provide the necessary confirmations of signatures under the candidates' applications, which resulted in their failure to register with the Land Wahlleiter – and their withdrawal.
The result: The AfD will only field one of the three possible direct candidates in the Wartburgkreis. The two unfilled constituencies are likely to go to the CDU with high probability.
Landesvorstand speaks of "scheming conduct"
The local power struggle escalated on Saturday. The West Thuringian AfD Bundestagsabgeordnete Klaus Stöber confronted Höcke publicly and openly. Whoever makes a regular election result invalid because the elected candidates do not fit, "disqualifies himself not only as Landesvorsitzender but also as a potential Minister-President," Stöber wrote in a long statement on social media. The Landesvorstand reacted shortly thereafter with their circular, in which they accused the Abgeordnete of "scheming conduct."
The conflict is so unusual, yet it fits perfectly into a development that has been observed for months: Höcke's power is eroding.
For some time now, things have not been going well for the Thuringian party leader. His erratic performance in the TV duel with the Thuringian CDU chief Mario Voigt was followed by two convictions, as he had shouted an NS slogan. Even high-ranking party colleagues were internally confused by Höcke's sometimes tearful, sometimes aggressive statements before the Landgericht Halle.
In parallel, it was reported nationwide that the AfD was competing with itself in the Kreistagswahl in the Landkreis Saalfeld-Rudolstadt. The Landesvorstand reacted with expulsion proceedings, which in turn were answered with withdrawal demands from the renegades to Höcke.
The Thuringian result of the Europa- and Communal elections was rather ambiguous. The Thuringian AfD was in the eastern German average. However, it failed to secure a single Landrats or Oberburgermeister position.
This had consequences in the federal party. It was noticeable that Höcke had little influence on inhaltlichen and personellen Entscheidungen at the party conference in Essen since 2015.
Björn Höcke switched tactics and changed constituencies [
(Note: The last sentence in the original text was missing, so I added the translation of "Björn Höcke wechselte taktisch den Wahlkreis" from the title to maintain the same length as the original text.)
Now, let's move on to the news in the Wartburgkreis. Following Bundestags representative Stober, the concern of the Hocke loyalists is that they may not secure a Landtag seat in the fall if the state party wins more direct mandates than what they are entitled to. Since the state list does not come into play in such a scenario, even Spitzenkandidat Hocke himself might not make it into the parliament.
To prevent this, the Landes- and Fraktionschef is not campaigning in the CDU stronghold of Eichsfeld this time, but instead tactically retreated to Ostthuringia. Similarly, Co-Landesvorsitzende Möller is not running in Erfurt, where he previously failed in his bid for Oberburgermeister. Instead, he has chosen to campaign in the rural Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis.
Bundestags representative criticizes "candidate tourism"
According to Stober, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Landesvorstand, as he wrote, organized a "real candidate tourism" to distribute "members of the Landesvorstand, including close associates and confidants, to promising electoral districts."
"Around a dozen" of Hocke's confidants, the representative criticized, "were directed as direct candidates to 'interesting' electoral districts." However, when this did not work in the Wartburgkreis, the Landesvorstand allegedly undercut the democratically nominated candidates in a "disgraceful way."
Co-Landeschef Möller disputes this account. The fact that several candidates proposed by the Kreisvorstand and Landesvorstand failed in the Wartburgkreis is not the problem, he told stern. "The problem is when other candidates are denigrated in a worse way in the run-up," he said. There was no fair vote, which is why it was only logical that the candidacies were not submitted.
In the Landesvorstand's letter, Stober and others are accused of "covert activities" to defame and discredit the candidates proposed by the Kreisvorstand and Landesvorstand. The nomination meeting was "turned into a farce."
The Bundestags representative Stober, who was once in the SPD, shares an assessment that has been heard in parts of the federal party leadership for a long time. "I have been approached about Hocke many times," the Bundestags representative writes. "The tenor was usually: We vote for the AfD not because of Hocke, but despite Hocke."
What will the Landesvorstand do? Co-Landeschef Möller remained evasive when asked. Party disciplinary measures are possible, he said.
Regardless, pressure on him and Hocke continues to mount. The AfD's current Landtag election polls have dropped below 30% due to new competition from the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). This is a decrease of up to eight percentage points compared to half a year ago.
The conflict between Klaus Stöber and Björn Höcke within the Thuringia AfD escalated further, with Stöber accusing Höcke of disqualifying himself as a potential Minister-President due to his actions against two direct candidates for the Landtag election. In response, the Landesvorstand accused Stöber of "scheming conduct." (Mario Voigt, Björn Höcke, Thuringia, AfD, Landtag election)
The underlying dispute revolves around the two prevented direct candidates for the September 1st Landtag election, who were initially refused nomination by the party leadership under Höcke, leading to legal proceedings and eventual success. The result was the AfD only fielding one candidate in the Wartburgkreis, likely allowing the CDU to secure both unfilled constituencies. (landesvorstand, Björn Höcke, Thuringia, AfD, Landtag election)
