Despite left-wing protests

Weidel unanimously elected as AfD candidate for chancellor

Alice Weidel will enter the Bundestag election campaign as the AfD's lead candidate.

(Bild: APA Pool/dpa/Sebastian Kahnert)

The AfD delegates unanimously elected party leader Alice Weidel as their candidate for chancellor in the German parliamentary elections on Saturday to thunderous applause. Prior to this, the party conference of the far-right party was disrupted by left-wing demonstrators.

Weidel was chosen as candidate for chancellor by acclamation by standing up. There was no vote with a count of the votes. Earlier, co-chairman Tino Chrupalla had appealed to the almost 600 delegates in Riesa, Saxony, with a view to current polls: "Now we have to leave the 20 percent mark behind us and keep climbing", with the aim of also making Weidel the German Chancellor.

Right also on the rise in Germany
The AfD has been in second place behind the CDU and CSU in voter polls for months. It currently has no chance of participating in government because no other party wants to form a coalition with it.

The party conference had previously started with a significant delay due to blockades and protests by AfD opponents on several access roads. The two-day meeting was due to begin at 10 a.m. and did not start until a few minutes after 12 noon. Party leader Chrupalla described the journey as more than arduous.

Various members of the federal executive committee said they had arrived early by bus under police escort without any problems. Other AfD representatives experienced long delays because they were stuck in traffic jams due to blockades. According to party circles, the car of party chairwoman Weidel was also held up by demonstrators.

Large police contingent on site
A broad-based protest against the party conference in Riesa had formed in the run-up to the event. Several civil society organizations and trade unions had called for resistance. The police secured the venue with a large contingent.

The protesters arrived early in the morning on buses and trains and blocked important access roads. The atmosphere was sometimes heated, with demonstrators and police confronting each other in many places. The situation was tense at times.

At times it was "dynamic" in the city, said a police spokesperson, "especially in the darker hours of the morning". In some cases, demonstrators had to be pushed back and there had been isolated attempts to break through barriers. The situation eased in the morning. Overall, it remained calm, according to the police.

Scholz also confirmed as candidate for chancellor
The members of the SPD also held a party conference in Berlin on Saturday. There, Chancellor Olaf Scholz was officially confirmed as the Social Democrats' candidate for chancellor in the federal elections on February 23.