The AfD is considering nominating its own candidate for Federal President, according to party and faction leader Alice Weidel. With their recent electoral gains, the party will hold roughly one‑fifth of the seats in the Federal Convention of 2027, making its presence stronger than ever.
“We fundamentally support the idea of having the Federal President elected directly by the people” Weidel told the “Tagesspiegel” Sunday edition. “A majority for a constitutional amendment along those lines is not foreseeable at the moment, but we will certainly think again about a suitable candidate who can unite the country rather than split it”.
The AfD argues that the Federal President should be a figure respected by all parties and throughout the nation, not “an impoverished party politician who misuses the highest state office to continue party politics”. The head of state’s primary duty, Weidel said, is to monitor adherence to law and constitution and to call those in power to order whenever they abuse the limited authority citizens temporarily grant them. She added that the president must also be able, both rhetorically and intellectually, to convey messages that transcend a single day.
Experts on the electoral‑rights platform “wahlrecht.de” estimate that the AfD will hold about 258 of 1,260 seats in the January 30 2027 Federal Convention. In the previous convention in 2022, the party secured 151 of 1,472 delegates, roughly one in ten. Projections for 2027 show the CDU/CSU fielding around 435 delegates, the SPD about 252-253, which could allow the AfD to overtake the SPD as the second strongest faction. The Greens are expected to receive about 193 seats, and The Left around 78.
The Federal Convention is made up of 630 members of the Bundestag and 630 delegates sent from the state parliaments proportionally to their composition. In the 2022 presidential election, the AfD nominated economist Max Otte, who received 140 votes and lost to incumbent Frank‑Walter Steinmeier. In 2017, the party ran Albrecht Glaser, who garnered 42 votes; Steinmeier won again there as well.
