The Blue Party (Germany)

The Blue Party
Die blaue Partei
Leader Michael Muster[1]
Deputy Leaders Thomas Strobel[1]
Hubertus von Below[1]
Founder Michael Muster (legally)
Founded 17 September 2017[1]
Split from Alternative for Germany
Headquarters Berlin[1]
Think tank The Blue Change (Die Blaue Wende)
Ideology National conservatism[2]
Economic liberalism[3]
Euroscepticism
Political position Right-wing
Colours      Blue
Bundestag
2 / 709
State Parliaments
9 / 1,821
European Parliament
1 / 96
Website
https://blauewende.de/

The Blue Party[1] (German: Die blaue Partei) is a national-conservative[2] political party in Germany that was founded on the initiative of the former leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Frauke Petry, after she left the party following the 2017 federal election.[4] The party presents itself as more moderate than the AfD, and aims to attract social conservatives, right-wing liberals and former AfD members to join the party.[5] As of 22 October 2017, the party has one member in the Bundestag, one in the state parliament of Saxony and four members in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.[5] The party is officially chaired by Michael Muster.[2]

History

Frauke Petry was elected leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on 4 July 2015. However, internal disputes within the AfD in the run-up to the 2017 federal election saw Petry stand down as leader to be replaced by Björn Höcke from the party's far-right wing.[6] Petry and Höcke both attempted to exclude each other from the party, with Petry accusing Höcke and his supporters of being extremists. However, Petry decided she would still stand at the federal election. In the run-up to the election, Petry registered a website and a political party under the name die Blauen, sparking speculation that she would join her new party.[7]

Petry left the AfD immediately after being elected in September 2017, but announced that she would be an independent.[8] This changed in October 2017, when Petry officially announced the founding of the Blue Party.[9]

Petry became the first Blue Party member in the Bundestag and, because of her dual mandate, the first Blue Party member in the Landtag of Saxony. She was shortly joined by her husband Marcus Pretzell, a representative in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, and three other NRW representatives: Alexander Langguth, Frank Neppe and Anette Schultner. Petry stated that the party hopes to compete in the 2019 state election in Saxony.[10]

Ideology

The Blue Party's policies are similar to those of the moderate wing of the AfD, with Deutsche Welle claiming the party "appears to have borrowed heavily from the AfD playbook".[9] Like the AfD, the Blue Party demands stronger border controls, restrictions on asylum, and no dual nationality. The Blue Party denounces "political Islam", but does not endorse the AfD's claim that there is no place for Islam in Germany.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Die blaue Partei" (PDF). bundeswahlleiter.de (in German). 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "Neue konservative Partei: Petry bekennt sich öffentlich zur Gründung der "Blauen Partei"". mdr.de (in German). 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
  3. ↑ "Programmatik". Blaue-Wende.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  4. ↑ "Bundeswahlleiter bestätigt Gründung der "Blauen Partei"" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 Stoldt, Till-Reimer (22 October 2017). "Die AfD-Erosion ist in vollem Gange" (in German). Welt. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Troianovski, Anton (23 April 2017). "Head of Germany's Upstart Anti-Immigrant Party Pushed Aside" – via www.wsj.com.
  7. ↑ "AfD defectors led by Frauke Petry hint at breakaway party". Deutsche Welle. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "Party of one: Petry abandons AfD to enter Bundestag alone". Deutsche Welle. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 "Ex-AfD chief Frauke Petry unveils new conservative 'Blue party'". Deutsche Welle. 13 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  10. ↑ "„Tillichs Rücktritt stärkt die blaue Wende"". Sächsische Zeitung. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
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