The co-leaders of the German right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, have agreed that Weidel will run for chancellor in next year’s federal election campaign.
However, this is so far only an agreement between the two co-leaders, Stephan Brandner, an AfD member of the Bundestag, told dpa on Friday. This must now be confirmed by the party’s committees.
The Redaktionnetzwerk Deutschland news outlet had previously reported that the Federal Executive Committee and the Federal State Conference plan will vote on the selection in early December.
Weidel isn’t expected to be officially placed in the role until early next year.
The next federal elections in Germany will take place in September 2025.
For decades, German politics was dominated by two parties: the center-right CDU, the party of former Chancellor Angela Merksl, and the center-left SPD, the party of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz. But their hold on voters has faded in recent years.
The AfD party was founded ten years ago by Eurosceptics, but in subsequent years has become more radical and resolutely far-right in its politics, especially on immigration.
Mainstream German political parties refuse to cooperate with the AfD.
The party leader in the state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, is a far-right insurgent known in the country for his controversial comments and has been convicted twice in court for knowingly using a banned Nazi slogan in speeches.
