Keith Woods ✔

Forwarded from Fren 🇪🇺⚡️

🇩🇪🇩🇪 Is AfD based or cucked? As an expert in German politics, I've written an explainer...

What most people outside of Germany get wrong in their analysis because they don't understand the Federal Republic's domestic politics very well is that AfD isn't simply Alice Weidel. She is just the figurehead at the top of the ticket.

AfD can only be understood by the decentralised nature of its party structure which looks like this:

First level: 2 Co-leaders (Weidel & Chrupalla)
Second level: 3 Deputy co-leaders
Third level: Federal executive board (which is made up of a number of individuals)
Fourth level: State associations for Germany's 16 Bundesländer/states (these are largely autonomous)

Apart from the first tier, the leadership level, the hard-right völkisch and ethnonationalist faction known as 'Der Flügel' – which is led by a man named Björn Höcke (you've likely heard of him before) – has members in every single level of the party's governance.

For instance, one of the three deputy leaders is a man named Stephan Brander. He is a staunch adherent of Der Flügel and one of Höcke's biggest allies. His Wikipedia page is linked, go look at the 'controversies' section 🤣

As for the AfD's state associations, they are mostly radical in the former East Germany which, funnily enough, corresponds with the party's strongest bases of support.

In a number of these states, Der Flügel not only controls the AfD's state leadership but dominates much of the administrative board. Perfect examples of this (but not limited to) are Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony:

AfD Saxony-Anhalt Senior Management
Leader: Martin Reichardt (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Hans-Thomas Tillschneider (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Oliver Kirchner (Flügel)
Secretary general: Jan Wenzel Schmidt (Flügel)

AfD Thuringia Senior Management
Co-leader: Björn Höcke (Flügel)
Co-leader: Stefan Möller (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: René Aust (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Torben Braga (Flügel)

AfD Saxony Senior Management
Leader: Jörg Urban (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Siegbert Droese (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Joachim Keiler (non-Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Martina Jost (non-Flügel)
Secretary general: Jan-Oliver Zwerg (Flügel)

These three state associations of the AfD are classified by the German government as 'proven right-wing extremist organisations'. This is obviously a smear tactic to justify state persecution, but it's also true that these branches take hardline positions that are closer to our style of politics.

AfD state associations in Brandenburg and Bavaria (the latter played an important role in mainstreaming the term 'remigation' in Germany btw) are also predominantly Flügel-aligned, including their leaders. Other states like Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hesse are balanced between non-Flügel and Flügel, but as time increases the nationalist camp is winning out. AfD's youth wing is almost entirely made up of ethnic nationalists who openly associate and identify with the Identitarian movement and activists like Martin Sellner.

On the other hand, the AfD state branches that are considered more 'cucked' and part of Weidel's libertarian camp are:

— Schleswig-Holstein
— Rhineland Palatinate
— North Rhine-Westphalia
— Hamburg
— Saarland
— Berlin
— Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Even in these states there's some prominent Flügel members, but they don't hold significant positions in the leadership.

Overall Assessment
AfD began as a eurosceptic libertarian party in 2013 and first gained notoriety for its free market policies and criticism of the euro. With the advent of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, their focus shifted from economics to anti-refugee sentiment.

During the period 2016 through to 2022, the party underwent open infighting between the libertarian wing in the tradition of Bernd Lucke and the emerging nationalist faction in the east. AfD co-leader Jörg Meuthen's resignation and subsequent departure from the party in January 2022 – citing concerns with rising party 'extremism' – ended the open warfare. The politics of distancing had ended.

Continuing... (1/3)

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9.61K viewsFeb 24 at 15:50

🇩🇪🇩🇪 Is AfD based or cucked? As an expert in German politics, I've written an explainer...

What most people outside of Germany get wrong in their analysis because they don't understand the Federal Republic's domestic politics very well is that AfD isn't simply Alice Weidel. She is just the figurehead at the top of the ticket.

AfD can only be understood by the decentralised nature of its party structure which looks like this:

First level: 2 Co-leaders (Weidel & Chrupalla)
Second level: 3 Deputy co-leaders
Third level: Federal executive board (which is made up of a number of individuals)
Fourth level: State associations for Germany's 16 Bundesländer/states (these are largely autonomous)

Apart from the first tier, the leadership level, the hard-right völkisch and ethnonationalist faction known as 'Der Flügel' – which is led by a man named Björn Höcke (you've likely heard of him before) – has members in every single level of the party's governance.

For instance, one of the three deputy leaders is a man named Stephan Brander. He is a staunch adherent of Der Flügel and one of Höcke's biggest allies. His Wikipedia page is linked, go look at the 'controversies' section 🤣

As for the AfD's state associations, they are mostly radical in the former East Germany which, funnily enough, corresponds with the party's strongest bases of support.

In a number of these states, Der Flügel not only controls the AfD's state leadership but dominates much of the administrative board. Perfect examples of this (but not limited to) are Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony:

AfD Saxony-Anhalt Senior Management
Leader: Martin Reichardt (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Hans-Thomas Tillschneider (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Oliver Kirchner (Flügel)
Secretary general: Jan Wenzel Schmidt (Flügel)

AfD Thuringia Senior Management
Co-leader: Björn Höcke (Flügel)
Co-leader: Stefan Möller (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: René Aust (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Torben Braga (Flügel)

AfD Saxony Senior Management
Leader: Jörg Urban (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Siegbert Droese (Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Joachim Keiler (non-Flügel)
Co-deputy leader: Martina Jost (non-Flügel)
Secretary general: Jan-Oliver Zwerg (Flügel)

These three state associations of the AfD are classified by the German government as 'proven right-wing extremist organisations'. This is obviously a smear tactic to justify state persecution, but it's also true that these branches take hardline positions that are closer to our style of politics.

AfD state associations in Brandenburg and Bavaria (the latter played an important role in mainstreaming the term 'remigation' in Germany btw) are also predominantly Flügel-aligned, including their leaders. Other states like Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hesse are balanced between non-Flügel and Flügel, but as time increases the nationalist camp is winning out. AfD's youth wing is almost entirely made up of ethnic nationalists who openly associate and identify with the Identitarian movement and activists like Martin Sellner.

On the other hand, the AfD state branches that are considered more 'cucked' and part of Weidel's libertarian camp are:

— Schleswig-Holstein
— Rhineland Palatinate
— North Rhine-Westphalia
— Hamburg
— Saarland
— Berlin
— Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Even in these states there's some prominent Flügel members, but they don't hold significant positions in the leadership.

Overall Assessment
AfD began as a eurosceptic libertarian party in 2013 and first gained notoriety for its free market policies and criticism of the euro. With the advent of the 2015-16 migrant crisis, their focus shifted from economics to anti-refugee sentiment.

During the period 2016 through to 2022, the party underwent open infighting between the libertarian wing in the tradition of Bernd Lucke and the emerging nationalist faction in the east. AfD co-leader Jörg Meuthen's resignation and subsequent departure from the party in January 2022 – citing concerns with rising party 'extremism' – ended the open warfare. The politics of distancing had ended.

Continuing... (1/3)

BY Keith Woods