Erfurt (dpa/th) - Thuringia's controversial AfD party leader Björn Höcke would personally back down if only there could be an AfD government participation in the next state election without him. "If it fails because the AfD plays a role in a conservative coalition government, I'm happy not to be part of the government from 2024. That's not a problem for me," Höcke said on Friday in the summer interview with MDR Thuringia in Erfurt.
He had already made similar statements in the past about his role in a possible AfD government participation. The reason is the image that would be drawn of him to the public.
The Thuringian AfD, whose frontman Höcke has been for years, is being monitored by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution for right-wing extremist tendencies.
Höcke, who is also the leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament, made it clear that he sees his political future in Thuringian state politics. In representative surveys, the AfD is regularly well over 20 percent - at the beginning of August in a survey by infratest-dimap for the MDR, it was the strongest party in Thuringia with 25 percent, ahead of the ruling left and the opposition CDU, which each had 22 percent came. According to Höcke, his party claims to govern.
According to his own words, the AfD right-wing extremist currently has no ambitions for the federal presidency, which will be re-elected in two years. "I have enough to do here," said Höcke, referring to Thuringia.
The AfD state chairman announced his party's protest actions against the high energy prices in Thuringia as well. Preparations were underway to take to the streets from mid-September. Despite the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Höcke spoke out in favor of further gas deliveries from Russia and the commissioning of the halted Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
