The Bavarian AfD is going into the state elections on October 8 with the members of the state parliament Katrin Ebner-Steiner and Martin Böhm as the top candidate duo. This was decided by a majority at a state party conference on Saturday in Greding, Middle Franconia, after a long and controversial debate. Andreas Winhart, who belongs to the so-called more moderate camp, had no chance.
In doing so, the Bavarian AfD is consolidating its continuing course further and further to the far right: both Ebner-Steiner and Böhm are attributed to the officially dissolved "wing". Above all, Ebner-Steiner is considered a confidant of AfD right-winger Björn Höcke from Thuringia.
Ebner-Steiner and Böhm called on their party to fight, especially against the CSU – and to internal unity. "We won't save Germany if we fight ourselves. We can save Germany if we fight our political opponents," said Ebner-Steiner.
The Bavarian AfD – as well as the parliamentary group – is traditionally deeply divided: between the supporters of the "wing" and the so-called more moderate camp. Five of the initial 22 MEPs have left the group since the beginning of the legislature in 2018.
At the beginning, the party congress on Saturday had discussed for hours whether there should be a single top candidate or perhaps even a prime minister candidate, whether it should be a team of the seven list leaders in the administrative districts plus parliamentary group leader Ulrich Singer – or just a top duo. In the end, the latter proposal found the majority of the AfD members present.