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02-09-2024
BERLIN: Voters in Germany’s two eastern states are due to cast their ballots in elections in which the far right is expected to perform strongly.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been polling top in Thuringia ahead of Sunday’s vote, while the party has been running neck-and-neck for first place with the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Saxony.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and its coalition partners have been struggling in recent polls.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied in Thuringia’s regional capital, Erfurt, denouncing the anti-immigrant AfD as fascists. The AfD says Germany needs to expel illegal migrants.
Polling stations across the two German states are scheduled to open at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
In Thuringia, the AfD is widely expected to emerge as the biggest party.
Meanwhile, the SPD – along with its Green and Liberal coalition partners – have been doing so badly in Thuringia, they may not even get a single seat in the state parliament.
The AfD is officially classed as right-wing extremist in Thuringia, while its highly controversial regional leader Bjorn Hocke was recently fined for using a Nazi slogan – though he denies doing so knowingly.
In Saxony, the AfD is vying for the first place with the CDU.
Last week’s knife attack in western Germany, in which a Syrian asylum seeker and suspected Islamist is accused of killing three people, has fuelled fierce criticism of how successive governments have handled migration.
Even if the AfD emerges as the biggest party in both states, it does not mean it will take power, as other political parties have publicly ruled out any collaboration with it to form a majority.
Still, the poll results will be seen as a litmus test ahead of Germany’s federal elections in 2025.
The far right is on the cusp of winning the most votes in German state elections for the first time since the Nazis.
For some in Germany, the rise of Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a literal nightmare but others, particularly in the east, say the AfD is a chance for change.
All year, the temperature has been rising in German politics and Sunday’s vote in Thuringia and Saxony may be the boiling point.
“Liar!” shouted a small group of people in Thuringia this week, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz took the stage in the city of Jena.
Chants of “Volksverräter” also punctured through the wider applause; a phrase that means “traitor of the people” and is seen by many as having Nazi connotations.
Chancellor Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, along with his Green and Liberal coalition partners, are doing so badly in Thuringia they may not even get a single seat in the state parliament while the AfD is polling top.
In neighboring Saxony, the AfD is running neck and neck with the conservative CDU.
Last week’s knife attack, in which a Syrian asylum seeker and suspected Islamist is accused of killing three people, has fuelled fierce criticism of how successive governments have handled migration.
A hasty you could even say panicked response has seen ministers announce tougher asylum and knife crime laws but it’s unlikely to overturn a broader discontent that for many AfD supporters isn’t just based on anger about “mass” immigration.
People also talk of wanting to fight what they see as over-zealous green policies, state interference and ill-advised military support for Ukraine. (Int’l News Desk)
