In contrast to all other parties represented in the Bundestag, the AfD does not have a general secretary or a comparable office in the party leadership. This is set to change in the future. According to WELT information, the federal party conference taking place at the end of June will vote on a corresponding motion to create the possibility of a general secretary in the statutes.
The applicant is the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament member Damian Lohr, the former federal chairman of the Young Alternative who has good connections within the party. According to WELT information, several federal executive board members and numerous state chairmen support the application. Party leader Alice Weidel is also positive about the matter. Approval by the party conference is therefore considered likely.
According to WELT information, the signatories of the application include the parliamentary group leader in the Bavarian State Parliament, Katrin Eber-Steiner, as well as the state chairmen from Lower Saxony (Ansgar Schledde), Hesse (Robert Lambrou), Rhineland-Palatinate (Jan Bollinger), Berlin (Kristin Brinker), Brandenburg (René Springer), Saxony-Anhalt (Martin Reichardt), Hamburg (Dirk Nockemann) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Leif-Erik Holm).
According to the motion, the party’s federal statutes are to be amended as follows: “The federal party conference elects the general secretary on the proposal of the federal spokesperson. If there are two federal spokespersons, the election of a general secretary is not possible.” In 2022, the AfD federal party conference had created the possibility of a single leadership at the request of the Thuringian state leader Björn Höcke.
A general secretary is not to be elected this year, and the statutes would only be changed with effect from the beginning of 2025. Party leaders Weidel and Tino Chrupalla will run again at the end of June, and their re-election is considered likely.
According to the current proposal, the Secretary General should coordinate the party’s work, manage the federal office and prepare for the Bundestag and European elections. He should also be given the right to attend and speak “at all meetings of subordinate bodies”. The Federal Executive Board should be entitled to dismiss the Secretary General from office at the request of the Federal Chairman with a two-thirds majority.