Rebel parties win over Höcke-led AfD in Thuringia, with subsequent resignation.
In the town of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, an unusual event happened during the local elections: Two AfD-related factions battled it out for votes. Sadly for the Hoecke faction, they suffered a defeat in the voting booths.
During the Thuringian municipal polls, a list sponsored by AfD leader Bjoern Hoecke, known as AfL, gained fewer votes than a competing AfD list - Alternative for Germany. According to stats by the Thuringian State Stats Office, the AfD obtained 19.4% of the votes while the AfL only got 13.8%, with 154 of the 163 voting districts tallied up so far.
This intriguing situation can be attributed to a long-raging power battle within the party. The roots of this conflict go back several months, leading to the presentation of two opposing slates for the town council elections.
Last October, a district association meeting convened and finalized a list of 15 candidates for the council vote. Presiding over the Thuringian State Parliament, Karlheinz Frosh was leading their list. The state party led by Bjoern Hoecke, though, believed the list to be insufficient, anticipating not all winners in the district council could be seated. The disruption during the meeting, as reported by MDR, resulted in a frenzy.
Courtroom Battles
This dispute took a legal turn, as Hoecke-backed members in the district tried to organize a rerun of the election. These efforts fell short three times in preliminary rulings at the Gera District Court.
The state party didn't just stop there. They attempted to eject members supported by Frosch from the party. A party expulsion was initiated against a group of nine people for allegedly damaging the party and for one case of electoral fraud. The AfD members who sided with Hoecke in the district were also ordered not to use the AfD name and logo. If they defied this directive, legal action was forthcoming.
CDU Makes the Most of AfD Split
An additional twist - Hoecke supporters in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt created a new list with AfD members, labeled as "Alternative for the District." Hoecke even appeared prominently on their posters, carrying the motto "the genuine alternative." In response, the tail-ending AfD rebels demanded Hoecke's expulsion from the party, claiming his backing of the AfL. A statement to ntv.de from Frosch's office confirmed his immediate resignation from the Erfurt AfD faction and the party after the election on Sunday.
This internal party tussle in Thuringia had far-reaching consequences. The CDU, the party with the highest votes after the election, took advantage of the division in the AfD, claiming 25.3% of the votes. If the two disputing AfD factions had merged into one, they would've achieved a significantly better result than the Christian Democrats.
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After the defeat of Björn Höcke's faction in the local elections in Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, there were attempts to organize a rerun of the election by Hoecke's supporters, but these efforts were unsuccessful in preliminary rulings at the Gera District Court.
Despite the Hoecke-led AfD's loss in the Thuringia municipal polls, a new list with AfD members, labeled as "Alternative for the District," continued to campaign with Höcke's support, causing further division within the party.
Source: www.ntv.de
