As the AfD elects its chancellor candidate, the far-right party looms large over German politics
And so now it is certain. Alice Weidel will lead her far-right party into Germany’s general election next month.
She was overwhelmingly backed at the Alternative for Germany (AfD) conference and was greeted with a standing ovation.
Weidel will fight the election with a manifesto that follows a familiar pattern from other successful populist campaigns in Europe and beyond – contempt for mainstream politicians, anger over levels of irregular immigration, a desire to rein in the power of the European Union and dismay over the spread of so-called woke values.
Alice Weidel looks on after she was elected as top candidate for chancellor of the AfD.
Pic: Reuters/Matthias Rietschel
A participant at the AfD national party conference.
Pic: AP/Sebastian Kahnert/picture-alliance/dpa
“Thank you for your trust,” she told the audience.
“I am excited to lead our campaign. For our people, for our future.”
Who is Weidel?
Weidel is an unusual figure to lead a German hard right-wing party – a gay woman with a PhD in economics, a Sri Lankan partner, two children and a home in another country – she commutes from Switzerland.
Admittedly there is an awkward history – her grandfather was a Nazi judge appointed to the job personally by Adolf Hitler, but she has maintained that she did not know that fact growing up and has angrily distanced herself from accusations of racism.
Indeed, Ms Weidel maintains that her party is not on the far right, but is simply conservative.
Pic: AP/Sebastian Kahnert/picture-alliance/dpa/
And that is part of her attraction – she is perceived as uncompromising on the things that the AfD’s supporters hold dear – migration, Euroscepticism, the greatness of German culture – but she’s also perceived as more palatable to the wider public.
Or, at least, that’s the idea.
Thousands of protesters
Outside the sports centre, where the AfD’s convention was being held, thousands of protesters gathered to raise their fears that the country was going back to the politics of the past.
“They are fascists,” said a man called Gabriel, who was helping to blockade the road that ran past the venue.
“I don’t know if we have learnt anything in the past hundred years but now we do have to stand against fascism.”
Protesters against the AfD during their national conference.
Pic: AP/Jan Woitas/picture-alliance/dpa/
Many of the delegates would angrily decry that label.
However, there was a rousing reception for Bjorn Hocke, a long-standing AfD politician who is from the right wing of this right-wing party.
His grouping, Der Flugel, was declared a suspected extremist organisation but he remained the party’s leader in Thuringia.
In 2019, a court ruled that it was not libellous to refer to Hocke as a fascist.
He has twice been found guilty of using Nazi slogans but last year, under his leadership, the AfD won the state election.
Emotions often run high when the AfD is involved. The protests here were, at times, heated.
Police officers during the protest that blocked a road near the venue for the AfD party congress.
Pic: Reuters/Thilo Schmuelgen
Police had to clear the road in front of Ms Weidel’s car as some protesters sat down and others began to surround it.
Later, the party’s MPs were called to gather together for a sudden security briefing.
The sports centre where this meeting was held once hosted the World Sumo Wrestling Championship.
Here, the heavyweights were political, and the prize at stake was far more consequential.
Barring a quite astonishing movement in the polls, the AfD is unlikely to win the election next month, but the party may well come second with more than 20% of the vote.
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That probably won’t equate to power – Germany’s major parties have all said they won’t go into coalition with the AfD – but it will mean momentum.
It will mean a loud voice in the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, and the ability to pressure the next chancellor into reflecting the opinions of the millions who vote for Ms Weidel’s vision.
Long term, if Ms Weidel can prove that her party is palatable, as well as popular, then she knows the political dam will one day break.
If enough people back the AfD, it will eventually become impossible to shun the party forever.
World
Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Read more: What’s a bear market?
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?
Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
World
Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem
South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.
His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.
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