Germany’s farright promises to disrupt its cosy Parliament

ANTIMIGRANT STANCE AFD set to become first right wing party to enter Bundestag in over 50 years

POTSDAM: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD), set to enter Parliament for the first time after Sunday’s elections, said on Friday it would revive debate there after four years of “grand coalition” rule by the two major parties.

Support for the AFD, which has won voters with its anti-immigrant rhetoric, jumped 2 points to 11% in a Forsa poll, putting it on course to become the first farright party in more than half a century to clear the 5% hurdle and enter parliament.

“It must get into the Bundestag lower house so that debates happen again in this parliament because on fundamental questions on the nation everyone is always in agreement (and) this parliament ... has become totally boring,” Afd’s Alexander Gauland said.

In an interview in Brandenburg’s regional parliament — one of the 13 state assemblies where the AFD has won seats — Gauland accused Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Martin Schulz of differing little in their policies.

He said parliament, dominated for four years by a coalition of the SPD and Merkel’s conservatives, had not had any new debates on issues such as sanctions against Russia, the NSA spying scandal or on the refugee issue.

The mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AFD, which may emerge as the third largest party; but Gauland said it would ultimately work towards being able to govern in the medium or long-term.

Electoral arithmetic might yet push Merkel into another grand coalition with the SPD, or she may enter a three-way alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats and environmental Greens. Party:

The former chemist, 63, who was born in East Germany, has employment, tax cuts and ongoing public investment at the forefront of her manifesto. She shook up a sleepy campaign when she shared the secret of her potato soup recipe and opened up about her reclusive husband Joachim Sauer, who is rarely seen in the limelight. "He supports me by doing a lot of the grocery shopping," she said Her victory will reinforce what Germany already stands for — EU unity. She is also considered an important backer of the all-powerful German industry, and will uphold free trade and action against climate change The leadership vacuum would see France's Emmanuel Macron become Europe's main power broker

The EU, already shaken by Brexit, Donald Trump, and the rise of far-right parties across Europe, will lose the stability that Merkel brings The euro could slide into a crisis, but unlike last time, there would be no strong leader to bail out defaulting countries