Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - The Hessian AfD expects broad support from the party leadership in the state election campaign. The party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla will come to Hesse several times for campaign appearances, said the Hessian AfD top candidate, Robert Lambrou, the German Press Agency in Wiesbaden. Voting for the new state parliament in Hesse is planned for autumn 2023.
After the last state election in 2018, the AfD entered the Hessian state parliament for the first time. With a result of 13.1 percent, the party won 19 seats. In the meantime, however, the parliamentary group only has 15 people after MPs left the party in a dispute over the political course.
In the state election campaign, the AfD wants to focus on the topics of energy policy, education and migration. At the program party conference of the AfD at the end of February, the priorities for the election campaign will be determined, announced the party and parliamentary group leader. The election campaign team will consist of seven people in a narrower circle and will be represented by both party members and external employees.
The AfD wants to herald the hot phase for the state election campaign on May 5th. "This day marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Hessian state association," explained Lambrou. The AfD is very well represented on social media. As the top candidate, however, he stands for a mix of doorstep election campaigns with on-site events and a presence on the Internet.
Lambrou is at the head of the Hessian AfD together with Andreas Lichtert. Lichtert, who is also deputy parliamentary group leader, was considered a supporter of the now formally dissolved "wing" of the AfD, which the constitutional protection classified as a right-wing extremist suspect. After his election, Lichtert declared that he wanted to represent the right-wing spectrum of the AfD.
After the nationwide raid on the "Reichsbürger" scene in December, a woman's membership of the AfD in Hesse was canceled. During her admission process to the party in 2018, Lambrou had justified the measure by concealing both membership of "Reichsbürger" and a substantive proximity to their attitude. There were a total of three arrests in Hesse during the major raid, including the woman.
