Germany's rightwing AfD party struggles to cope with internal crisis

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Germany's rightwing AfD party struggles to cope with internal crisis

Alternative für Deutschland’s support has slumped since a leading
politician called for Germany to stop atoning for its Nazi past

Philip Oltermann in Berlin
Monday 27 February 2017 06.00 GMT

Buoyed first by a Greek debt crisis and then by an unprecedented influx of refugees to Europe, the rise of Germany’s rightwing populist Alternative für Deutschland party has at times looked inevitable, leading one politician recently to predict a “total victory” for his party in the coming federal elections.

With less than seven months to go, however, the AfD engine is suddenly sputtering. Over the past week, three separate polls have shown support for the party slip below 10%, down from a record high of 15% last September.

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While the AfD has continuously outperformed pollsters’ estimations in the past, and entering parliament would represent a triumph for a political group formed only four years ago, observers say it is hard to see how the party’s troubles could easily resolve themselves before September.

The AfD’s current crisis was triggered in mid-January through a taboo-breaking speech by the rightwinger Björn Höcke, who in a beer hall in Dresden called for a “180 degree turn” in Germany’s culture of remembering and atoning for the Nazi era.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/27/germany-rightwing-afd-party-struggles-internal-crisis

[DetlefK]

1. The problem of such parties is the internal authoritarianism and the backstabbing.

They are anti-democratic. They are authoritarian. The party-leadership is trying to steer the party in an authoritarian fashion. And that pisses off their authoritarian base and leads to infighting and secessions. Because everybody wants to be the ruler in that authoritarian regime.