The AfD in Parliament | AfD wants to appear "moderate" in the Bundestag

Berlin. The AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag has adopted a code of conduct to present itself in a more respectable manner. At a closed meeting in Berlin, the members adopted the corresponding rules, as a parliamentary spokesperson confirmed. The document obliges members to "present a united and moderate presence in Parliament" in order to "ensure the political capacity and credibility of the parliamentary group." The code also contains rules against bribery and conflicts of interest.

Parliamentary group leader Tino Chrupalla had already spoken of greater responsibility in light of the expanded electorate and announced a different tone for his party in parliament. This change in approach is also intended to underscore the AfD's ambition to enter a government in the future.

The number of calls to order in the plenary session increased significantly during the last legislative period, from 47 to 135 compared to the previous legislative period. This puts the right-wing extremist party at the top of the Bundestag's statistics.

But even during the closed session on Saturday, it became clear how difficult the implementation of the new code could be. Party leader Alice Weidel sharply attacked supporters of a ban on the AfD , drawing comparisons to the Nazi dictatorship. Hitler, she said, "first banned parties and restricted press freedom." She particularly targeted the SPD, which wanted to push ahead with a ban at its party conference. These "loser parties" in the Bundestag actually wanted to discuss a ban proposal: "And that's exactly what we had in 1933."

A possible ban on the AfD has been discussed for a long time. Supporters see their views vindicated by a recent reassessment of the party by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The intelligence agency had upgraded the AfD to a "confirmed right-wing extremist movement." The party is fighting back legally, so the classification is currently on hold.

Confusion currently surrounds alleged contacts between the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). While Chrupalla told Welt-TV that talks were already underway at the federal level – "about what's moving Germany and how majorities can be changed" – BSW head Sahra Wagenknecht immediately contradicted this. "Nothing is on the horizon," she clarified in a video on X. While the BSW rejects "firewalls" and "speech bans" as "undemocratic stupidity," it is not conducting any talks with the AfD at the federal level. dpa/nd