Again in Europe, we are seeing the far right rise in another state. First Italy, then Spain, and now Germany. The Alternative for Germans (AfD) is growing rapidly amongst voters within the state. The party had mostly strong ties in former communist territory in eastern Germany. But it is growing within the west. Polls indicate that the Christian Democratic Union of Germany party (CDU) won both of its elections in west Germany. The AfD finished second, polling at its highest percentage ever of 18.4%. This sent shockwaves across the German government. Polls are indicating a rise of the far-right within Germany. Co-leader of AfD Alice Weidel even stated “we have arrived.”
Olaf Scholz has become increasingly unpopular with German voters. He created a three party coalition government between the CDU, Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and the Greens. This coalition may not be losing significant votes across all parties, the inroads it is making can cause the coalition to lose ground. The 10-year old party intends to have control in more state elections by next year.
Recent polls indicate that the party is growing. They received 20% in recent polls, placing them in second amongst parties in Germany. Other German parties are failing to deal with the rise of the far-right, mostly blaming each other for its rise. The AfD has become experts at utilizing mainstream concerns and pushing them out in their political agendas, such as immigration. The German BfV has formally placed the AfD under surveillance in suspicion of undermining the German constitution. They have also labeled the youth wing of the party as an extremist group.
Where does Germany move from here? The pressure for all parties to discredit the AfD is rising. But the people of Germany are leaning towards far right contenders, which is a general populist trend within Europe. Spain is struggling to find a majority within government because the far right took so many seats, but not enough to form a government. The Italian far right government is strong amongst voters. The next French elections may also go far right, as Marine le Pen’s party is growing strong. The trend in Europe is key to German elections. People tend to follow trends, and if the trend is moving towards the far right, German’s will likely do the same.
There is hope however. Spanish far right parties could not form a majority, forcing more broad coalitions. The German’s may have the ability to do the same, since their system makes it almost impossible for one party to have a majority. Other parties need to get together to form coalitions in government to keep the far-right from obtaining any sort of majority. Information and social media campaigns to discredit the far-right will also play a significant role in combating them. The German public must also band together, and create an open dialogue to condemn the far-right and bring back moderate politics.
Author: Joshua Cheatham
