German Election 2017 Boost For AfD
On the face of it Merkel won but................
Alternative für Deutschland
Abbreviation
AfD
Leaders
Frauke Petry &
Jörg Meuthen
The Alternative for Germany (German:
Alternative für Deutschland, AfD) is a
Eurosceptic[7][8][9][10]
and
right-wing populist[11][12][13]
political party in Germany founded in 2013. The party won 4.7% of
the votes in the
2013 federal election, narrowly missing the 5% electoral threshold
to sit in the
Bundestag. The party won 7.1% of the votes and 7 out of 96 German
seats in the
2014 European election, and subsequently joined the
European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group. As of 2015 the
AfD has gained representation in five
German state parliaments. The party is currently led by
Frauke Petry and and
Jörg Meuthen.
History
n September 2012,
Alexander Gauland, a former
State Secretary in
Hesse,
Bernd Lucke, an economist and Konrad Adam, a former editor of
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from 1979 to 2000 and chief
correspondent of
Die Welt
until 2008, founded the political group Electoral Alternative 2013 (German:
Wahlalternative 2013) in
Bad
Nauheim, to oppose German federal policies concerning the
eurozone crisis. Their
manifesto was endorsed by 68 economists, journalists, and business
leaders, half of whom were professors and three-quarters of whom had
academic degrees.[14]
The group stated that the
eurozone
had proven to be "unsuitable"
as a currency area and that southern European states were "sinking into
poverty under the competitive pressure of the euro".[15]
Frauke Petry is a German chemist, businesswoman and politician who has been one of three elected party spokespersons of Alternative for Germany from 2013 to 2015.
Biography
Petry grew up in
Brandenburg. In 1992 her family moved to
Bergkamen in Westphalia. Petry took her first degree in chemistry at the
University of Reading in 1998, before attending the
University of Göttingen, gaining a doctoral degree there in 2004.[1][2]
In 2007 Petry founded her own business, PURinvent, a Leipzig based manufacturer of polyurethane tire fill products.[2] She received the Medal of the Order of Merit in 2012.[3][4] In her party she represents the national conservative faction and supports right-wing policies.
Petry was married to a pastor named Sven, has four children, and lives in Tautenhain, Saxony.[2][3] Petry published a statement in early October in which she announced that she would separate from her husband, while also noting that “much more than just friendly feelings” had developed between her and fellow party member Marcus Pretzell.[5] Sven Petry has since joined the CDU.[6][7]
Petry was the source of controversy in January 2016 when she stated that German border police should shoot migrants illegally entering Germany if necessary.[8]
Jörg Meuthen
ex Wiki
The Wiki has decided not to write him up. Now if he done something
amusing or embarrassing it would be different.
Junge Alternative youth organisation
The Junge Alternative für Deutschland, JA (Young Alternative for Germany)
was founded on 15 June 2013 in Darmstadt. The JA is open to people aged 14
to 35 years, and sees itself as a youth organisation of the AfD but is
legally and organisationally an independent body from the AfD party.[24]
In view of the JA's independence it has been regarded by the AfD hierarchy as being somewhat wayward.[84] With the JA repeatedly accused of being "too far right,"[85] politically regressive and anti-feminist among the German media.[84]
- In March 2014, The Junge Alternative hosted Nigel Farage who had been invited to address the party's North Rhine-Westphalia organisation in Cologne.[86] The invitation is alleged to have caused some trouble within the AfD itself over the youth wing’s unauthorized invitation of Farage, with the regional association and the youth wing wanting to stress their independence.[87] The invitation was contrary to a decision of the AfD National Executive whose policy is that official contact with foreign parties is decided only by the federal executive.[85] Nigel Farage's presence apparently led to a deterioration in relations with Bernd Lucke, the AfD leader, who called the move a "sign of poor political tact."[84] The Nigel Farage event received largely negative headlines in the German media.[84]
- The JA launched an feminist-critical campaign entitled "Gleichberechtigung statt Gleichmacherei" (variously translated as "equal rights, not levelling down" or "equality instead of uniformity") on Facebook in response to the young Social Democrats, who posted photos supportive of feminism to mark International Women's Day. The Facebook page of JA describes feminism as a "left-wing" ideology, and asks people to post reasons to reject it.[88] With the JA also citing opposition to gender quota proposals in Germany for women as a motivation.[89] Sections of the German media also labelled election campaign material of the JA which showed women in swimwear under the slogan "equality instead of uniformity" as sexist and in bad taste.[84] The JA followed with a poster of four shirtless men under the slogan "end soft justice".[84]
- In May 2014 The JA is said to have further irritated AfD bosses with a statement they released on Facebook advocating vigilante action against crime.[90]
Frauke Petry ex Wiki
Frauke Petry (born Marquardt, 1 June 1975 in
Dresden)
is a German
politician, who has been
party chairwoman of the
Alternative for Germany party since 4 July 2015. She was formerly one of
three party spokespersons from 2013 to 2015,[1]
and became leader in 2015 by displacing the party's founder
Bernd Lucke after an internal power struggle; Lucke subsequently left
the party and said it has "fallen irretrievably into the wrong hands" after
Petry's election. Petry is noted for her
anti-Muslim views and for her calls to ban
minarets,[2]
and for arguing that German police should use firearms "as a last resort" to
prevent illegal border-crossings.[3]
She is a chemist and small businesswoman by education and professional
background.
