Expect attacks on the national conservative Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party to increase following the release of its draft election manifesto, which, if implemented, would mark a significant shift from Germany’s current national and international policy agenda.
After coming to the “realisation that our fundamental reform approaches do not work” in the European Union, the party says Germany should leave the Brussels bloc altogether, as well as the euro, committing in the long term to a gold-backed currency system. They believe that returning to the Deutsche Mark would help to “end the misguided path of permanent bailouts.”
Not wanting to create the impression it would move slowly on reform, the AfD also said it “rejects every policy and every tax that is related to alleged climate protection,” adding that it would pull Germany out of the Paris Agreement, much as Donald Trump is expected to do in the U.S.
In terms of what it would keep, Alice Weidel’s group has highlighted its desire to preserve freedom of speech—especially when it comes to “critical and disruptive opinions, as long as they do not cross the line into criminal liability”—and to “protect unborn life.”
Migration is also a central theme, with pledges to increase the language requirements for immigrants and to deport illegal entrants, while welcoming the “immigration of qualified professionals” who can “contribute to the success of our country.”
The 85-page draft document has been put forward by the AfD’s federal executive board and will be voted on during January’s party conference, ahead of the February elections. German weekly Junge Freiheit notes that while a number of amendments are bound to be put forward, the programme as a whole is “likely to pass.”
Its proposals have caused ears to prick up across the rest of Europe, especially on social media, but appear to have been underreported in the establishment press—not least given that the party is polling in second place.
