German political leaders search for answers after far-right victory

 

THURINGIA – The watershed victory for Germany’s far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a local district election in Thuringia over the weekend left mainstream political leaders across the country grappling with the fallout.

Some cast blame as others searched for strategies to counter rising support in the country for the AfD, an anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic party long viewed as taboo. Recent opinion polls have shown growing backing for the AfD.

The election of AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann as district administrator in Sonneberg in a runoff on Sunday marked the first time the far-right party claimed a governing post anywhere in the country.

Although Sonneberg is quite small, with about 57,000 residents, the AfD’s hard-right firebrand leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, claimed it was the beginning of a “political earthquake” that would shake the country and vault the AfD into the mainstream.

Saskia Esken, the leader of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), described Sesselmann’s victory in Sonneberg as a “dam burst” in German politics. She noted that Sesselmann has described himself as a follower of Höcke, who is classified as a far-right extremist by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.

The election results “must cause great concern for supporters of democracy” and are “a very clear statement of the direction things could go in,” Esken said on Monday.

Martin Schirdewan, leader of the far-left Die Linke party, called it “an alarm signal for democracy” in an appearance Monday on public broadcaster ZDF. “We now have to think very carefully about how democracy can be strengthened at this point.”

All of Germany’s significant political parties had united behind the centre-right Christian Democrat (CDU) incumbent in Sonneberg in hopes of blocking the AfD. But the cross-party appeal from the centre-left SPD, the Greens, Die Linke and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) fell short.

The spokesman for Scholz’s coalition government declined to comment on the Sonneberg election on Monday. But Steffen Hebestreit nevertheless called for people to cultivate democratic values.

“Our country is characterized by values such as fairness, tolerance, decency and respect,” the spokesman said. “And these values must be constantly cultivated and practised.”

Populist appeals that foment division and scapegoat immigrants for the complex problems facing Germany are “certainly not a recipe that would lead this country to a good future,” he added.

CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja, meanwhile, blamed Scholz’s government for the AfD breakthrough and accused the coalition of “dividing the country” with too many policies “that do not meet with consensus in the country.”

Czaja contended that voters have reacted intensely to the government’s handling of refugee policy and environmental proposals like a ban on new oil- or gas-powered home heaters.

Esken, the Social Democrat leader, acknowledged shortcomings of the Social Democrat-led federal government but called on the leadership of the opposition CDU to work more constructively instead of resorting to populist attacks.

“They must finally understand who really benefits from this right-wing populist culture war that they are waging on many issues,” said Esken. “Only the AfD benefits” from conservative attacks on gender-neutral language, controversial remarks about Germans of Turkish origin or hardline attacks on immigration, Esken said.

Some leaders also pointed to the fractured state of politics in Thuringia, where the coalition government has limped along without a majority in the state parliament, for helping fuel voter frustration.

Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier, a Social Democrat, said he wasn’t surprised by the AfD victory: “It was an election of protest and impatience.”