Re-election of the AfD leadership: Weidel worse than Chrupalla
The AfD goes into the next few months with its two chairpersons, Chrupalla and Weidel, leading the way. Both were confirmed in their positions at the party conference in Essen. However, there was opposition to Weidel - more than 100 delegates voted against her.
The AfD has confirmed Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel as co-chairpersons. At the conference in Essen, 426 delegates voted for Chrupalla. There were 89 opposing votes and 17 abstentions. Chrupalla was therefore re-elected with 82.7 percent. Weidel received 79.8 percent. 418 delegates voted for her, 106 voted against, and 13 abstained. There were no opposing candidates.
Chrupalla spoke of an "overwhelming result" - when he was elected two years ago, he only received around 53 percent of the votes. Chrupalla, a master craftsman from Saxony, has been at the helm of the AfD since November 2019, first alongside Jörg Meuthen - who later left the AfD because he found it too radical - and since June 2022 with Alice Weidel as co-chair.
The delegates had previously decided that the AfD should continue to be led by a dual leadership. According to the statutes, a single leadership would also be possible. Weidel had used a football metaphor in her opening speech at the party conference and spoken of a "trainer duo" in the party leadership.
Both Chrupalla and Weidel had publicly declared before the delegates' meeting that they intended to continue as a duo. In addition to the re-election of the AfD federal executive committee, issues at the conference include the alignment of the party in European and foreign policy.
Despite facing opposition with over 100 delegates voting against her at the party conference, Alice Weidel managed to secure a significant percentage in her re-election as co-chairperson of the AfD, receiving 79.8%. There were no opposing candidates for Tino Chрупalla's re-election as co-chair, who was confirmed with an overwhelming 82.7% of the votes. Despite the opposition, the AfD leadership duo, Chрупalla and Weidel, has remained committed to continuing their shared leadership of the party.
