| schema:articleBody
| - Germany's far-right AfD party vowed to campaign for an end to coronavirus restrictions, a tougher line on migration and an exit from the EU as it finalised its election manifesto on Sunday. At a congress in Dresden to firm up its campaign for elections on September 26, the anti-Islam, anti-immigration party voted to reject compulsory mask-wearing, which it said was "based on numbers that are not meaningful". The AfD has long sought to capitalise on anger over virus measures in Germany, with members joining anti-vaxxers and "Querdenker" (Lateral Thinkers) at various demonstrations. The party had already voted on Saturday to demand an end to coronavirus shutdown measures, complaining of a "politics of fear". AfD co-leader Joerg Meuthen vowed to dispel "these orgies of bans, these jailings, this mania for locking down". With Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders expected to tighten infection control measures further this week, the far right unveiled its election slogan -- "Germany. But normal" -- which at least in part targets coronavirus restrictions. Party members also voted for the manifesto to include a call for Germany to leave the European Union, as well as a complete ban on refugees being joined by family members. The party agreed on Sunday to declare itself opposed to "any family reunification for refugees", revising previous wording that had called for such reunions to be allowed only under exceptional circumstances. Starting out as an anti-euro outfit in 2013, the AfD capitalised on public anger over Merkel's 2015 decision to allow in a wave of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The party caused a sensation in Germany's last election in 2017 when it secured almost 13 percent of the vote, entering parliament for the first time as the largest opposition party. But it has lost support as Germany reels from the Covid-19 pandemic, and has lately been plagued by internal divisions and accusations of ties to neo-Nazi fringe groups. The latest surveys have the party polling at between 10 and 12 percent, with Merkel's CDU/CSU on around 27 percent and the surging Greens not far behind. September's election will be the first in 16 years not to feature Merkel, who is bowing out of politics. Against a backdrop of infighting between the hard right and a more moderate wing, motions calling for the AfD to elect its top election candidates were withdrawn. The decision is now expected to be made later by a vote among all party members. bur-fec/dl
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)