AfD NRW leadership takes lawyer against federal board

The state executive of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in North Rhine-Westphalia is actively opposing a directive from the federal leadership to conduct a thorough review of the NRW branch's operations. The state leadership, led by regional speaker Martin Vincentz, has formally stated in a legal letter that they perceive no legal grounds for such an examination. They are prepared to have this dispute settled by the party's federal arbitration court.

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We see no legal basis for such a review and are prepared to have this determined by the federal arbitration court.

The federal AfD announced on Monday that a commission would investigate the finances and specific decisions of the NRW state leadership. This move comes despite earlier signals of de-escalation from the NRW branch, which had withdrawn a request for an injunction that would have prevented the federal board from interfering in the selection of candidates for the 2027 NRW state elections. The state party had recently nominated its candidates over two weekends in Marl.

During these candidate selection meetings, delegates from two rival factions accused each other of blackmail and engaged in physical altercations, leading to criminal complaints. Supporters of state leader Vincentz, who are aligned with party leader Tino Chrupalla, largely succeeded in getting their preferred candidates approved. However, a smaller faction, associated with Bundestag member Matthias Helferich and state board member Sven Tritschler, and politically aligned with party leader Alice Weidel and Thuringia's state leader Björn Höcke, felt underrepresented.

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The federal board called for a repeat of the candidate selection process.

This rival group organized what they called "Operation Filibuster" via smartphone chats, involving mass candidacies that significantly delayed the proceedings and led to chaos. Following these disturbances, the AfD federal board called for a repeat of the candidate selection process. State leader Vincentz then accused the federal board of attempting to exert undue influence on the candidate nominations. The majority at the meeting ultimately voted to continue the election, which concluded last weekend with 80 list candidates. In response, the federal board announced its intention to have the decisions of Vincentz's executive committee investigated by a commission.

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The federal board is seeking to exert impermissible influence on the candidate nominations.