Kruppalla said he was “a little overwhelmed” by receiving 82.72% support from people at the party conference in the western city of Essen. Weidel received 79.77% of the votes.
Both leaders saw an increase in support compared to the party’s previous congress two years ago. The pair were elected unopposed in the vote by approximately 600 delegates gathered in an indoor arena.
In his opening speech at the conference before the vote, Weidel attacked Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.
“Dear government, finally get out of here and pave the way for new elections,” he said. He also said that firewalls against AfD are not important.
Weidel was frustrated by Germany’s mainstream parties’ refusal to work with the far-right party.
Meanwhile, Kruppalla said the AfD is “stronger than ever” and that the two leaders have “brought peace” to the once divided party.
He also laid emphasis on the expansion of the party club. According to him, the AfD now has 46,881 members, which is 17,723 more than at the beginning of 2023. He said the club was estimated to exceed 50,000 by the autumn.
Reporting from within the AfD congress, DW chief political correspondent Michaela Küfner noted:
“What the AfD is doing is focusing on what it knows best – which is its anti-migration stance. It has proven in the European elections that (it is) a force to be reckoned with. And in Despite reports that there may be infighting here, current party heads Alice Weidel and Tino Kruppalla have been re-elected, so clearly, the AfD is ready to capitalize on the issue it knows best.”
Clash between protesters and police outside AfD Congress
Last Saturday, police used pepper spray and batons to stop a large group of protesters breaking through a cordon, at the same venue where the congress was being held.
It was not clear if protesters were injured in the incident, which occurred around 5:45 a.m. (0345 GMT), but police said they made several arrests and some officers were attacked.
At one stage, a few hundred protesters blocked the walk ramp of the dual carriageway and others took to the streets and intersections, including where the congress is being held.
“At one point, AfD politicians and members required police escort to access the venue,” said DW political correspondent Alex Gerst. He said the protests had subsided by afternoon.
“Yes, there were clashes but less than expected. Mostly, it was a peaceful protest by members of church congregations, Fridays for Future (climate movement) and Grandmothers Against the Far Right (Omas gegen Rechts). They all send “The message that came together was that the city of Essen does not welcome the AfD Party Congress.”
top security presence
Several thousand policemen were deployed for security purposes to quell civil unrest.
In total, about 100,000 protesters were expected to take part in the demonstration against the anti-immigration, hard-line conservative AfD, which is particularly supported in the country’s former communist east.
Even though organizers said the protests would be non-violent, police feared violence from the approximately 1,000 left-wing extremists who also planned to demonstrate.
The government appealed to the protesters to “refrain from violent actions and mischief”.
About 5,000 protesters held a rally on Friday night with the song, whose motto was “Bass gegen Haas” (Eng.: “Bass against hate”).
The Essen government had tried for months to bar the AfD from securing a two-day birthday celebration conference there, but ultimately failed in court.
Undercover agent company monitoring AFD activities
The AfD is being monitored through the German Home Logic company (BFV) as a suspected right-wing extremist group. The company warned that the birthday celebration is a racist, anti-Semitic and undemocratic warning to Germany.
Despite a series of such blackmails and scandals, the party finished second in Germany or first in the five former communist eastern states in the EU Parliament elections on 9 June.
It is expected to become the most powerful party in three of the eastern states – Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg – in September elections – amid fears that alternative parties will not be able to reach a ruling coalition to overtake it.
AfD leaders are also looking to seize the party’s growing popularity as Germany prepares for federal elections in late 2025.
mm, tj/kb (AFP, dpa)
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