Tino Chrupalla, co-chair of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said on Sunday that there will be no “power struggle” among party leaders as the party prepares for the 2025 general elections.
During the annual summer interview of German public broadcaster ARD, Chrupalla said that his co-chairman Alice Weidel would be a “good candidate for Chancellor”, while insisting that “a party conference or the rank and file” of the party would make the final decision.
Weidel, meanwhile, said she could “think of many candidates” who could lead the anti-immigration party in the national election campaign.
The pair were re-elected as party leaders for another two years at a party conference in late June. Party figures showed that almost 83% of members voted for Chrupalla, and almost 80% for Weidel.
Chrupalla said the party would definitely field its own candidate for chancellor in elections to the German Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, rather than supporting another party’s candidacy. “That’s pretty clear, because I think that’s what voters expect,” he said.
The AfD will launch a “frontal attack” on Germany’s coalition government during the election campaign, Chrupalla said.
Whoever the party decides to present as a candidate for chancellor, Chrupalla expects them to enter the elections united. “You can assume that there will be no power struggle and no dispute,” he concluded.
