Germany's far-right AfD nominates chancellor candidate for first time

By Sarah Marsh

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Saturday nominated co-leader Alice Weidel as its first chancellor candidate in the party's 11-year history, setting out its bid for power ahead of a snap election due in February.

The party is not likely to form part of a governing coalition any time soon because other parties have ruled out working with it, despite ranking second in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservatives.

But a string of state electoral successes by the AfD are increasing pressure on the conservatives in particular to drop their firewall to the party and consider a right-wing coalition, especially given the weakness of their erstwhile traditional partner, the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP).

"We are the second-strongest force in the nationwide polls and from this we derive our claim to govern, because we want to do better, we want to bring Germany forward again, we want to be at the top of the world again," Weidel told reporters in Berlin from a stage adorned with two large German flags.

"Voters clearly want a coalition of conservatives and the AfD," she said.

Far-right parties have gained traction across Europe in recent years, also coming to power in Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland.

Nominating a candidate could allow the AfD to boost its media presence by participating in campaign debates, said Hans Vorlaender, political scientist at Dresden's Technical University.

Long dismissed as a protest party, the AfD is also seeking to establish itself more as a "normal party", said Stefan Marschall, political scientist at the University of Duesseldorf.

Weidel, 45, who has co-led the party since 2022, is an unlikely public face for a male-dominated, anti-immigration party that depicts itself as a defender of traditional family values and ordinary German working people.

TAPPING INTO VOTER WORRIES

She is raising two sons with a Sri Lankan-born, Swiss woman and speaks fluent Mandarin, having done her PhD in economics in China. Before entering politics, she worked for Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global Investors and as a freelance business consultant.

Weidel's unusual profile, however, is precisely what makes her an asset to the AfD, according to political analysts who say she could have greater appeal among more moderate Germans who would normally shun a far-right party.

In recent years the AfD has tapped into voter worries about high levels of immigration, a possible escalation of the Ukraine war and the crisis of Germany's economic model as well as frustration with infighting in the ruling coalition, which fell apart last month.

"Germany is in one of the worst crises of its history," said Weidel, promising a turnaround with the AfD.

The party wants to sharply curb immigration, particularly from Muslim countries, turn nuclear power plants back on, exit the European Union - unless it carries out major reforms - and end arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Despite being suspected by authorities of pursuing anti-democratic goals, the AfD has earned credibility with some voters for openly addressing hot-button topics before mainstream parties did.

The party came first in two state elections in September, despite mass anti-AfD protests and a string of scandals which included a senior figure declaring that the SS, the Nazis' main paramilitary force, were "not all criminals".

A survey by pollster Wahlen published on Friday put the AfD on 17%, behind the conservatives on 33%, but ahead of the SPD on 15% and the Greens on 14%. The conservatives, the SPD and Greens all have chancellor candidates.

AfD membership has swelled by 50% to about 50,600 over the past year, the party's spokesperson said, though that number represents a fraction (some 14%) of the membership of Germany's biggest parties, the CDU/CSU conservative bloc and the SPD.