In Germany, for the first time, a mayor of a major city was elected by the far-right party “Alternative for Germany” (AzG). This is another success for AzG, which can already boast of several significant achievements this year, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
The rise of the far-right formation, particularly strong in the eastern provinces that were part of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) and have a lower standard of living, inevitably arouses concern among politicians from the traditional parties, who flatly refuse to cooperate, let alone coalition, with her.
However, the electoral successes of AzG can also be interpreted as a barometer of public attitudes. The ruling coalition and the main opposition forces should see them as a beacon and ask why millions of Germans have voted in recent years for a party that mainstream politicians and the media have described as far-right and populist.
AzG candidate Tim Lochner won yesterday’s runoff in the mayoral elections in the city of Pirna, in the eastern state of Saxony. The far-right party has particularly strong positions in this region, which was in the GDR.
After all, the local authorities in Saxony only a few days ago declared AzG an extremist organization. So they followed the example of other provinces that were part of the former communist East Germany – Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. And AzG recorded high election results there as well. This perhaps shows that the leading German politicians should pay attention not only to the symptoms, but also to the causes of these processes.
According to preliminary results Tim Lochner, 53, a carpenter by trade, received 38.5 percent of the vote, DPA reported.
The agency makes the stipulation that Lochner is not actually a member of Alternative for Germany, but was promoted by it. Thus, he is the first candidate of the German far-right party to be elected mayor of a major city in the country.
The representative of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) remained second with 31.4 percent of the vote, and third with 30.1 percent was the challenger nominated by the center-right Free Voters party, which is strong in southern Germany. Voter turnout was 53.8 percent.
Lochner also led in last month’s first round of the election, with support of almost 33 percent. Then the candidate of “Free Voters” came second, with 23.2 percent, and the CDU representative came third, with 20.3 percent.
An independent candidate took fourth place with 13.7 percent, while the representative of the German Social Democratic Party (GSDP) of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, supported by the second partner in the ruling tripartite coalition, the Greens, received less than 10 percent.
Undoubtedly, the results in Pirna reflect dissatisfaction, at least to some extent, with the authorities at the federal level as well.
In accordance with the established practice, the representative of the GSDP, as well as the independent contender, supported the candidate of the CDU – the historical rival of the Christian Democrats – in the runoff, if only to stop the rise of the extreme right. However, it is significant that this was not enough.
The Associated Press defines Lochner’s election victory as another landmark achievement of the “Alternative for Germany”.
Before Pirna, AzG candidates achieved two other significant victories, DPA recalls.
In August, Hannes Lott won the mayoral election in Raghun-Jesnitz. The city with a population of 9 thousand inhabitants is located in another province that was part of the GDR – Saxony-Anhalt.
However, the population of Pirna is close to 40 thousand people. The city, which lies between the Saxon capital of Dresden and the border with the Czech Republic, is part of an electoral district that has included representatives of the Social Democratic Party in the last two houses of the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament.
Shortly before that, a representative of the AZG was for the first time elected administrator of a German district administrator. Robert Zesselmann won the corresponding election in June in Sonneberg, Thuringia, another state that was part of the GDR and where the far-right party had already been declared extremist.
Founded only 10 years ago, Alternative for Germany already has 83 seats in the 736-member Bundestag, according to AFP. She gets around 20 percent in opinion polls at the federal level, ahead of Scholz’s Social Democrats, not to mention the Greens and the smallest partner in the governing coalition, the liberal Free Democratic Party, although it lags behind the CDU. Meanwhile, the government’s popularity suffered another blow in the middle of last month when the Constitutional Court struck down its budget plans, forcing it to adopt emergency economic measures.
AzG scores are even higher in the provinces that were part of communist East Germany. Regional elections are coming up next year in three of them – Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg – and the AfD hopes to consolidate its progress. Public opinion polls give the far-right party a convincing first place in all three provinces, always with a score above 30 percent, DPA notes.
By the way, the co-chair of the “Alternative for Germany” Alice Weidel last night welcomed the election victory of Tim Lochner as a “historic result” for her party on the “X” social network, notes AFP.
And so, the Social Democratic Party, which was initially on the fringes of German politics, is increasingly becoming a major factor. Its rise is causing concern among many people who consider the formation to be extremist, anti-democratic and xenophobic, according to DPA.
However, the elections in several more German states, as well as the vote for the European Parliament next year, may be key to the greater ambitions of “Alternative for Germany” at the federal level. Then it will become clear whether the far-right party is not just an outlet for many voters, or whether it can really offer a real alternative. The second, at least for now, seems unlikely.
2023-12-18 06:00:06
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