Alternative for Germany far-right group on the verge of state election success
A far-right group that for some has evoked Germany’s Nazi past may be on the verge of becoming the strongest party for the first time in a state election.
MUNICH — In the heart of what was once communist East Germany, a far-right group that for some has evoked the country’s Nazi past may be on the verge of becoming the strongest party for the first time in a state election.
As the country’s central governing coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz grapples with Russia’s war with Ukraine, slow economic growth, the transition to green energy and a renewed debate about migration sparked by a recent terror attack, the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, an anti-immigration, nationalist party which denies human-caused climate change, is looking to take advantage at a local level.
In the east German states of Saxony and Thuringia, home to around 4.1 million and 2.1 million people respectively, the party, which is under monitoring by the country’s domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism, is ahead in several polls and expected to win about 30% of Sunday’s vote.
With other smaller populist parties like the left-wing Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) or Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance are also expected to make gains, so the prospects look grim for Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, who make up Germany’s federal government, although the former two parties are the junior partners in both outgoing regional governments. The mainstream opposition Christian Democratic Union also could also lose seats.
People were picking populists to express their disappointment with the governing parties, Sudha David-Wilp, regional director of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office, told NBC News on Thursday. “They’re not happy about Berlin’s support of Ukraine. They’re also unhappy about the economic transformation that’s taking place,” she said.
Rating: 5