Bollinger has previously also headed the parliamentary group, but now the 60-year-old Büge takes over. On Sunday evening, Bollinger, who is also the state leader of the AfD, celebrated wildly in the Mainz House of Representatives with the top AfD duo Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla.

The AfD more than doubled its share of the vote in Sunday’s election; with 19.5 percent, it achieved the best result in a western German state. In view of the emerging coalition between the CDU and SPD, the AfD parliamentary group will soon take on the role of opposition leader.

In the election as the top candidate for the state elections last summer, Bollinger received 71.33 percent of the vote despite two surprising opposing candidates. Now, when the new parliamentary group leader was elected, a large majority reportedly voted for Büge and therefore against Bollinger. The group did not announce the exact result of the vote.

Bollinger considers the result to be in need of explanation

From now on, deputies in the parliamentary group are Joachim Paul, Dirk Bisanz, Ralf Schönborn and Frank Senger. Damian Lohr remains Parliamentary Secretary.

Bollinger said he would accept the result as a Democrat and would continue to contribute constructively to the group in the future. He did not expect that he would not be re-elected as the top candidate after these election results and believes that this needs to be explained to the members and voters of the AfD.

New strong man was once in the CDU

Michael Büge initially did not comment on his election. He has been the parliamentary group leader of the AfD parliamentary group since 2017. The 60-year-old once switched from the CDU to the AfD; for the Union he was, among other things, an alderman in Berlin-Neukölln from 2001 to 2011, and also deputy district mayor for the last two years of this period.

From 2011 to 2013, Büge was State Secretary for Social Affairs and head of the Senate Department for Health and Social Affairs in Berlin. In the AfD he is now a member of the Mainz district association and is also a board member there.

Paul speaks of an excellent choice

Joachim Paul, who says he has known and appreciated Büge for a long time and also voted for him, said that it had already become apparent in the past few weeks that there would be a candidate for the parliamentary group chairmanship. With a view to further professionalization, the experienced Büge is an excellent choice for the group.

“For me personally, this is no surprise,” Paul continued. There will be no shift to the right. The party will have to decide at a later date whether Bollinger can remain AfD state chairman after the low blow, said Paul.

Lohr praises Büge’s experience

Damian Lohr emphasized that there were no camps within the group. The fact that Büge and all his deputies were elected with large majorities speaks against this. Büge is one of the most experienced politicians in the ranks of the AfD. “In this way we are taking our opposition work to a completely different level.”