Germany’s Firewall Against the Far-Right AfD Feels the Heat
The result and a secret speaker vote have intensified questions over whether mainstream parties can still keep the AfD out of power.
- The Alternative for Germany secured its first regional assembly speaker this week when Tobias Rausch won 48 votes in Saxony-Anhalt, signaling the mainstream parties' "firewall" meant to isolate the far-right party is beginning to buckle.
- Suspicion fell on 15 members of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats who were ordered to abstain from the secret ballot, while the AfD seeks to restrict immigration and restore energy ties with Russia.
- Martin Reichardt, head of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, declared "for the first time, it was clear that the so-called 'firewall' doesn't have to be stronger than the freedom of action of members of parliament." CDU deputy leader Karin Prien warned accommodation could "jeopardise the very existence of the entire party."
- Ulrich Siegmund of the AfD dismissed the firewall as "childish" and aims to be confirmed as state premier by year-end, while the party hailed the result as a "political turning point" for its 2029 national election bid.
- On Wednesday, parties in Berlin held talks and declared they are "determined not to hand our country over to extremists" amid sliding poll numbers and strain over pensions and tax reform. Yet mainstream coalitions face deepening divisions as voters blame established parties for declining living standards.
75 Articles
75 Articles
The Straits Times
Times of IndiaGermany's firewall against the far-right AfD feels the heat
BERLIN, Oct 10 - Chancellor Friedrich Merz's warning this week that extremism was entering Germany's parliamentary system was the latest in a series of signs that mainstream parties' \"firewall\" to isolate the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has begun to buckle. Read more at straitstimes.com.
derwesten.de
Who helped AfD man Tobias Rausch win the election in Saxony-Anhalt? Friedrich Merz's theory provides fierce criticism.
Bericht wirft Fragen zum CDU‐Abstimmungsverhalten bei Wahl des Landtagsprässidenten auf: Drei CDU-Abgeordnete müssen laut „taz的 gelogen haben +++ SPD, Linke
Özdemir on the Federal Government: It is "five to twelve +++ report raises questions about voting behaviour in the election of the President of the Land parliament: three CDU MEPs are said to have lied to +++ all developments in the live blog
CDU-Vize Karin Prien calls for a change of course after three Eastern electors: the Union must become more social, wider and open to qualified immigration.
Election represents a political milestone: for the first time since the post-war period, an AfD representative takes over the presidency of a German regional parliament
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