How dangerous is the corona virus? And how long should economic life in Germany stay as far down as it is now? The AfD struggles to find a common line.
More border controls, help for apprentices: After the AfD remained largely silent at the beginning of the Corona crisis, concrete suggestions are now being made regarding crisis management. However, the right-wing populists are by no means in agreement. Neither in the assessment of the threat from the virus nor in the assessment of the Federal Government’s measures to slow the spread of the lung disease Covid-19.
While some AfD members are alarmed and adhere strictly to the federal government’s guidelines, others are skeptical, reminding them of the party’s stance on human-made climate change. “As in the population as a whole, there are people in our group who think we are dealing with a normal flu episode,” said Alice Weidel, chairwoman of the parliamentary group.
Alice Weidel: The AfD parliamentary group put the views of the corona virus within the party into perspective. (Source: Christian Ditsch / imago images)
Party leader Jörg Meuthen also wants more awareness of the problem at this point. He says: “I believe that there are many in the AfD who value the risk posed by this pandemic, but there are certainly some of us who saw it a little too careless at the beginning.”
AfD wants to hold parliamentary group meeting before Easter
The most recent internal debates in the AfD were on Friday, when a quarter of the members of the parliamentary group pushed through that a parliamentary group meeting should be held in Berlin next Tuesday. Agenda items: “Next steps in the corona crisis” and “Exit strategy”.
“I will only take part if it is ensured that a sufficiently large room is found,” explains a representative from North Rhine-Westphalia. Weidel says: “I would have thought it better if we had called our parliamentary meeting for the week after Easter – even though it is of course important that we bundle our proposals for an exit strategy.”
Already in the past week of the meeting, the AfD parliamentary group – unlike the other parliamentary groups – had gathered in its hall as usual. Only the distance between the deputies remained somewhat larger than usual. On Tuesday, the members of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag are to meet in two separate rooms.
Party deputy Chrupalla criticizes Minister of Health Spahn
In view of the far-reaching contact restrictions that have been decided by the federal and state governments, a meeting of several dozen politicians is a signal to the population that not everyone in the parliamentary group agrees. Especially after the federal government had expressly appealed to all citizens to refrain from excursions and other trips even over the Easter holidays. “If I am not able to be on site, I will take part in the discussion by telephone,” says Weidel.
The party’s co-chair, Tino Chrupalla, believes that Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) “reacted too late”. The member of the Bundestag says: “This is one reason for the current bottlenecks in protective equipment.”
Tino Chrupalla: The AfD vice criticizes Federal Minister of Health Spahn for his actions in the corona crisis. (Source: Rainer Unkel / imago images)
In the preparation of a speaker from the AfD parliamentary group on March 24, it says: “There is much to suggest that overall mortality in Germany will not increase significantly due to the corona virus.” The author believes that the media and politicians have deliberately published incorrect figures in connection with the pandemic, “which leads to considerable uncertainty among the population”.
AfD denied approval to lift the debt brake
Weidel sees it differently. She says: “We supported the government’s package of measures because we consider it necessary overall.” However, the restrictions contained therein are so far-reaching that it has to be checked at very close intervals whether they are still appropriate.
What Weidel does not say: In the decisive Bundestag vote to lift the debt brake in the Basic Law – the prerequisite for the billions of aid packages – the AfD refused. All three votes against and 54 of the 55 abstentions came from her group. For comparison: Even the Left, Greens and FDP unanimously voted for it.
Corona times are difficult times for many people. The AfD politicians also suffer from internal quarrels and bad poll values. The ARD Germany trend recently saw the vote share for the party nationwide at only ten percent. “I am not shocked by the drop in survey values,” says Chrupalla. “Times of crisis are not times when the opposition can score. That is not only the case for the AfD.”
It is unusual, however, for a chairman to think publicly about whether his party’s different currents should not go their separate ways in the future. Even an AfD member who shares Meuthen’s skepticism about the wing of the Thuringian AfD country chief Björn Höcke, which is classified as extreme right by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, says that the timing for such mind games was not chosen favorably. Weidel finds clearer words. She explains: “I have no understanding that our party chairman has started a debate about a possible division of the AfD, which costs a lot of energy, in a time so difficult for Germany.”
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