Thursday, March 28

Jörg Meuthen: The German extreme right of the AfD is radicalized after the departure of its most moderate leader | International


Alternative for Germany co-chairman Jörg Meuthen during a party congress in Dresden, eastern Germany.
Alternative for Germany co-chairman Jörg Meuthen during a party congress in Dresden, eastern Germany.JENS SCHLUETER (AFP)

The ideological battle in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been immersed for years is beginning to resolve itself to fall to the more radical side. Jörg Meuthen, one of the presidents of the party, announced this Friday by surprise his decision to leave it due to disagreements with the most extremist sectors. Meuthen, 60, had distanced himself from the rest of the AfD leaders, who in turn criticized him, increasingly openly, for speaking out against the anti-democratic drift of the formation.

In an interview with ARD public television, the politician acknowledged having failed in his attempt to lead a different path for the party, where he assures that there are factions that “do not respect the basic democratic order.” “In them I clearly see totalitarian echoes,” he said. Especially in the slogans against the policy to fight the coronavirus, an issue in which he believes that “something similar to a cult has developed.”

Meuthen, who wants to keep his seat in the European Parliament despite leaving the formation, does not see a future for the AfD either. He assures that, in the best of cases, it will end up being relegated to East Germany, where in two länder (Saxony and Thuringia) was the most voted force in the last elections last September. In the country as a whole, he obtained 10.2% of the votes, more than two points below his previous result.

AfD burst into the German Parliament after the September 2017 elections with 12.6%. Born in 2013 as a protest party against the Brussels bailouts and raising the banner of euroscepticism, it turned its slogans towards rejecting immigration during the 2015 refugee crisis. With the pandemic, it has refocused its populism against restrictions, which it calls undemocratic, and has allied itself with deniers and lovers of conspiracy theories to oppose the government, first that of Angela Merkel and now the tripartite government of Olaf Scholz.

Also Read  Charlie Sheen on his participation in the platoon: "We yelled for the doctor!" | Films

Meuthen was considered the most moderate of the AfD leaders and spokesmen, although experts such as Johannes Kiess, a researcher at the University of Siegen, question this supposed moderation. It depends on who you compare him to. If it is with those who remain – federal co-president Tino Chrupalla, parliamentary speaker Alice Weidel, or especially with the controversial co-president in Thuringia, Bernd Höcke – yes, it is, but over the years figures have been leaving the party. much more moderate frightened by the radical drift of the formation, Kiess points out.

“Greater radicalization of the party”

Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.

subscribe

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the German internal secret service, has been closely monitoring the formation since at least 2019 after detecting extremist tendencies in some sectors, including the youth and the most right-wing wing, the one led by Höcke , because he considers that they defend policies contrary to the constitutional democratic order. Meuthen has even described Höcke as a “neo-Nazi”. “It was a matter of time before Meuthen decided to leave. His departure represents a victory for the most radical wing,” says Kiess. “I fear that we are going to witness a further radicalization of the party,” he adds.

Meuthen militated in the party from its inception. In the summer of 2015, he became a federal spokesman after the departure of Bernd Lucke, one of the founders. He first led the AfD together with Frauke Petry, then with Alexander Gauland and currently with Tino Chrupalla. The politician was part of the neoliberal wing in economic policy, which began by protesting against Brussels, against the most nationalist or directly xenophobic sector, and intended to turn the AfD into a mass conservative party. He didn’t make it. “The heart of the party beats very far to the right today,” he said in the interview with ARD in which he announced his departure.

Also Read  Márquez: "I have to go to 300 to know if I am cured"

Follow all the international information in Facebook Y Twitter, o en our weekly newsletter.




elpais.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *