Flirting with the Far-Right: Why German Politicians Can’t Live without a Populist Surge
Original thumbnail from author Jacob Dokulil
On Monday, the 37th federal party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Nuremberg echoed with a resounding statement by German politician Markus Söder: “We are the protective barrier. We are the Firewall.” This response comes after a fiery campaign by center-left politician and party leader Fredreich Merz to distance his party, the CDU, from the extreme far-right party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the fast-approaching German parliamentary elections on February 23rd. Having placed second in recent polls behind Merz’s party, the AfD represents a strong populist barricade that will most likely lead to uncomfortable coalition talks if a majority is to be shared between the two parties.
The rallying statement at the party conference came as a surprise to many, largely because Merz has worked with the AfD before to achieve his political goals. Just last week, the politician proposed anti-immigration bills before the Bundestag, an act that the governing center-left parties did not back. Still, the legislation passed by a narrow majority.
The bill's passage was only achieved by support from members of the AfD. Backlash was swift, particularly in accusing Merz of furthering his party’s own political ambitions. “It’s not about yourself, it’s about Germany” jeered fellow politicians such as foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Such comments had enabled Merz to switch to his infamous defense, that he would not be working with the AfD in the future. However much this may be true, his previous collaboration showed the blind truth: as the far-right storm slowly encroaches over German politics, it can no longer be ignored as a key player in policy decisions.
The upcoming elections come at a pivotal time in the country where political instability has contributed to a deepening crisis of leadership. Germany has long been known to hold durable coalitions built on plodding consensus. The infamous ‘Merkel-Raute’ or ‘Merkel-diamond’, a hand gesture known to be produced by former-Chancellor Angela Merkel, plastered on billboards across the country, holding firm as a symbol of unity amongst the multiple parties. The gesture serves as a brand image of liberalism, one that shadows over the nation as a message of strength. In reality, it’s a dream that faded along with the resignation of the former-Chancellor herself in 2021. This brought to an end a long-standing notion of durability that was in part broken with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ‘traffic-light’ coalition. Formed chiefly by his Social Democratic Party (SDP) as well as the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens, it was a group of liberal parties set to maintain the democratic standard under cooperation. The coalition was later dismantled after failing a vote of confidence in the Bundestag. In what is set to be one of the most competitive elections in Germany’s modern political history, the disintegration of Scholz’s coalition leaves an opportunity for four main contenders to lead the next one.
The CDU, led by former-Chancellor Angela Merkel, was at one point a powerful force in German politics, heading several grand coalitions until its initial decline after her resignation. In an attempt to reclaim power, Merz, now party leader and “preferred chancellor” among voters, has attempted to balance a more hardline approach on the immigration crisis, stepping outside of the traditional European-wide asylum law. Another party aiming at anti-immigration policy is the AfD, led by Alice Weidel. Stemming from an extremist protest group in 2013, the far-right populist party looks to “re-immigration,” or mass deportation of migrants as their central policy issue. Weidel’s other ambitions include leaving the European Union altogether. Ever since Scholz’s credibility was hit hard by the destruction of his coalition, the SDP has struggled along in third place, focusing largely on domestic policies such as national debt and infrastructure. This leaves The Greens, gradually vying for the place of the SDP, and led by Robert Habeck, who aims to initiate hardline climate policies in lue with EU legislation.
The results that the AfD have received in recent polls are without a doubt, a frightening vision to liberal democracies across the continent. This comes at a time when all across Europe, such democracies are falling from unstable governance, allowing for the far-right to sweep in; representing a domino effect of populism. This presents the question: what makes the AfD so popular? They capitalize on the fears of German voters over certain policy issues, specifically migration, a contested issue within the continent as a whole. As long as governance remains weak, the German voter base is drawn to the ideals of the AfD, almost as a form of protest and protection from the direction that coalitions such as Scholzs’ have taken the country toward the past few months. Populism in Germany is without a doubt a growing trend, so much so that new fringe parties such as the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) have adopted far-right ideologies and have equally been successful in achieving popularity. This has positioned the AfD as a key player, so much so that Germany’s main parties can't really pass any policy without looking to the AfD for some support. Although protests have run rife in Germany as a result, the new reality is largely a result of many of the leading parties’ inability to govern. Such inability stems from lengthy disputes over budget and immigration that have led to no agreements, a rare case for a group of parties who share similar policy positions.
As Germany’s more liberal parties continue to bicker over coalitions and policy issues that align among their ideological spectrum, the far-right sits on the sidelines, waiting for a moment when it might just be able to capitalize on Germany's current political instability. As the elections come to a close, it becomes clearer that a new future is set for Germany – an alternative one, at that.