Struggle for direction in the AfD: Matthias Helferich expelled from the party

The AfD in North Rhine-Westphalia has temporarily suspended Matthias Helferich from the party. According to information from Welt am Sonntag, the state arbitration court found it proven that the Bundestag member had disregarded and violated the party's principles with several statements.

The focus is primarily on statements and postings that, in the view of the state executive committee, are racist, dehumanizing, and anti-democratic. One Instagram post, in which Helferich published a photo with the phrase "Get rid of the beasts" and the hashtag "remigration," caused particular outrage. This apparently referred to German citizens with a migration background. The motion states that Helferich "particularly blatantly violated human dignity" and "contaminated a term in the most hideous way."

Helferich's worldview repeatedly causes criticism within the party

The AfD NRW state executive committee went even further: Helferich was deliberately breaking with basic civilizing principles and pursuing policies "reminiscent of the darkest chapters of German history." His statements were not only contemptuous of humanity, but also undermined the basic consensus of democratic communities.

Matthias Helferich has been considered one of the most controversial figures within the party for years. He distinguished himself early on with sharp, provocative statements and a nationalist worldview that repeatedly caused controversy even within the party. While critics call him an ideological arsonist, supporters of the radical wing of the AfD revere him as a consistent advocate of "true opposition politics."

Helferich has been operating on the fringes of what can be said for years – for example, he referred to himself in internal chat groups as the "friendly faceof National Socialism ," which led to a temporary withdrawal from the Bundestag list in 2021. Since the early federal elections in February of this year, he has been a member of the AfD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

On the day of the hearing at the AfD headquarters in Düsseldorf, around 100 supporters gathered in front of the building – many of them former members of the “Young Alternative”, which was classified as right-wing extremist and has since been dissolved.

The expulsion is initially a matter of first instance. Helferich immediately announced that he would appeal to the party's Federal Arbitration Court. In his written response, he emphasized that he sees himself as the victim of an internal party power struggle. The allegations were fabricated, and his statements were taken out of context.

State chairman Martin Vincentz counters: It's not about party-political intrigue, but rather about removing "a destructive troublemaker" from the party. The AfD needs "clear and recognizable boundaries for exclusion."