As Germany’s new parliament convened for the first time on Tuesday, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) seized its largest-ever number of members and demanded equal power in a Bundestag dealing with the most significant diplomatic and economic crisis in decades.
Thanks to years of economic underperformance and instability brought on by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the AfD had its greatest showing by a far-right party since World War Two, coming in second in the February 23 election.
Within minutes, the AfD group insisted that the oldest member, Alexander Gauland, who had previously led the party, rather than Gregor Gysi, the longest-serving member of the Left party, open the session as Father of the House. The purpose of the 2017 rule change was to prevent an AfD member from opening the parliament.
