Wendt: AfD does not need a new image

In the opinion of social politician André Wendt, the AfD does not need a different image in order to attract new groups of voters. "I don't think we need to work on our image. We also need aggressive rhetoric. This is important so that people are shaken up and politicians realize that things can't go on like this," Wendt told the German Press Agency. The 52-year-old was vice president of the state parliament in the last legislative period.

The Saxon AfD association is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a secure right-wing extremist organization. The party leadership repeatedly rejects this and is also legally defending itself against it. In the state elections on Sunday, the AfD finished just behind the CDU (31.9%) with 30.6%. In the European elections in June, the AfD had kept the CDU/CSU at bay by ten percentage points.

Wendt admitted that he is often asked about the Thuringian state and parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke at his party's information stands. He then makes it clear that Höcke is "not a Nazi". "He is a member of our party and does good work in Thuringia. I can't understand why he is being demonized like this."

Wendt also says he does not understand why associations or companies are positioning themselves against the AfD: "Because we are also the party of the middle class. We denounce the fact that energy prices are too high. We denounce the fact that bureaucracy is overwhelming many companies. That's why I can't understand why people are taking such a strong stance against the AfD." Fears of foreign skilled workers of an AfD in government are unfounded, said Wendt.

At the same time, he made it clear that his party does not want unregulated mass immigration. "We want regulated immigration of skilled workers - if we need skilled workers. We should first have our own potential." If a need is then identified, then there should be selective immigration.