Germany: Meuthen no longer wants to run as head of the AfD

AfD boss Jörg Meuthen withdraws from the party leadership. As the 60-year-old MEP announced in a letter to the members that Junge Freiheit has received, he will no longer run for the office of federal spokesman at the coming federal party conference in December.

Meuthen had led the party as part of a dual leadership since 2015. First together with the former AfD chairwoman Frauke Petry and after her departure with the Saxon AfD MP and top candidate for the federal election, Tino Chrupalla.

The relationship between Chrupalla and the second top candidate, parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel on the one hand and Meuthen on the other, has long been considered shattered. Meuthen had publicly spoken out in favor of another top duo in the federal election campaign. His defeat on the issue was also seen as a sign of his dwindling influence in the party.

Meuthen appeals to delegates
The decision to withdraw was not an easy one for him, Meuthen wrote to the members. He will not withdraw into private life, but will continue to be politically active. “I suffer every single day from the capital, politically completely wrong decisions of the established parties that set the tone here in Germany and in Brussels. Accordingly, I will neither fall silent nor cease my political work, but will continue to do my political work and use my voice audibly. "

The outgoing AfD boss recommended to the delegates of the party congress to elect “sensible board members” with a prudent choice, “who will further advance our party as a determined party based on the rule of law and as the strong and only resolute liberal-conservative force”.

Source: Junge Freiheit