In recent weeks, thousands of people from the far right in Germany.
At the same time, about 4,500 Germans occupied the city of Halle, in the center of the country, at the beginning of the AFD election campaign. Alice Weidel, party leader and government candidate, even counted support for her name while speaking to the enthusiastic audience.
The country is in a fragile political moment, and concern for factors such as the cost of living and immigration. It is in this scenario that Germany is moving towards a general election in February.
The fall of the Scholz government
It was the last step of the walk to end the coalition of three parties that kept Scholz in power.
The triple alliance is rare in Germany and the Scholz party – the SPD – joined for three years. The coalition was called “traffic light”, by the color of the integral parties.
It was a promise of unity to the Germans. But early in the government in 2022, a factor that faced energy and pressured inflation. Germany is extremely dependent on Russian natural gas.
The professor of the Institute of Political Science of the Free University of Berlin, Bruno de Castanho Silva, points out that the trigger in the cost of living led to fractures in a fundamentally different coalition.
According to him, at certain times, there were no agreements among the parties that formed the Government of Scholz.
“It was each trying to pull the sardines to their side, the three did not reach a consensus at points like the budget, for example,” he says.
removing the support of 88 deputies and leaving Scholz as a minority at Bundestag, the country’s congress.
The negative feeling about the Scholz government is not only political, but also social. The SPD chancellor is the most unpopular ruler since 1949 and his good/optimal assessment does not exceed 15% in the latest polls.
Following the Chancellor’s defeat in the vote of confidence, the president of the country, Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved the parliament and marked general elections to February 23.
Even though he was an unpopular leader, Scholz was chosen by the SPD as a party candidate for the dispute. He will have to face at the Friedrich Merz ballot box of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Robert Habec, from the Green and Alice Weidel of AFD.
The race to the elections
In recent polls, Friedrich Merz and CDU/CSU, the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, leads with 30% of voting intentions.
It is followed by Weidel and the far right acronym alternative to Germany, which reaches 21%.
The acronym of Olaf Scholz, the SPD, should melt in this election and bitter the third position for the first time in history. They have so far 16% of voting intentions. This means that party will have lost almost 10 percentage points since the 2021 election.
Other acronyms such as BSW, left and FDP seek to ensure 5% of the votes, minimum number to stay in Bundestag.
As much as CDU’s advantage is great, this election in Germany points to the spotlight for important factors in Europe’s largest economy.
According to Forschungsgrupe Wahlen survey, 35% of the population cares about the country’s financial directions. This happens at the same time, amid mass layoffs and industries closing in some provinces.
Germany deals with Chinese competition in vehicle production and saw exports plummeted to advance Beijing technology. “Germany is going behind in some aspects and moves slowly to try to correct,” says the professor at Berlin Free University.
The second biggest concern of the Germans is immigration.
The country has one of the largest immigrant communities on the European continent. Throughout the term of Angela Merkel, she received thousands of Syrians seeking refuge from the civil war between Bashar Al-Aasad and rebel groups.
The debate on migratory rules have grown in recent years, along with the movement of other power to tighten their legislation.
CDU/CSU bills that restrict borders have gained strength in Bundestag, including with the support of the far right.
The far right advances
For the first time in history, AFD can be in second place in the general elections. The party has been guaranteeing its space in the political spectrum with a strong anti-immigration and antistablyment speech.
If research is confirmed, the group will have grown 11 percentage points in three years, a quick and quite popular climbing.
“AFD did a base work very well. It comes with an easy speech that things are not going well and the population buys it, ”says Castanho Silva.
The growth of the acronym can also be explained by the normalization of the far right in other countries in Europe such as Italy, Austria and the Netherlands. The three recently elected prime ministers of the radical right. But the Austrians and the Longes show the difficulties that AFD may have if it reaches the German Chancellery.
“Ten or 15 years ago, it would be impossible for a CDU’s right party to be the second position,” says the professor. This is driven by, among other things, a population revolt with the economy.
It would be difficult for Weidel and his co -religionists guarantee the minimum bench to govern, as other parties indicate that they would not accept forming a coalition with AFD. According to Castanho Silva, this would make it difficult for the candidate – and even the party – grow even more in the country.
