Merkel’s campaign rallies plagued by unruly protests
OSTSEEBAD BINZ, Germany: Chancellor Angela Merkel may appear to be cruising to a victory in next week’s elections, but her campaign rallies across Germany have been plagued by rowdy protesters who have been jeering, booing and even flinging tomatoes at her.
From the western university town of Heidelberg to the picturesque southern city of Rosenheim and the eastern heartland of Torgau, protesters bearing banners like ‘Get lost’ or ‘Merkel must go’ have sought to drown out the chancellor’s speeches.
The unruly protests have jolted awake a snoozy campaign and tarnished Merkel’s image of invincibility, even though her conservative alliance is commanding a strong doubledigit lead in opinion polls.
They are also coming at a time when the anti-immigration and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been gaining in the polls in the final stretch before the Sept 24 vote.
All of which has sparked questions about the source of the pent-up anger, particularly since the explosively divisive issue of 2015’s mass refugee arrivals had seemingly faded as the influx eased last year.
“The rage is not fuelled only by Merkel’s refugee policy, but also by powerlessness, from the feeling of not being taken seriously by ‘them up there’,” the weekly magazine Spiegel said.
Timo Lochocki, a political analyst at the German Marshall Fund, said the anger had been ‘long in the making’ because the ruling coalition of Merkel’s “CDU and the Social Democratic Party do next to nothing to appease these voters”.
“Over the last three to four years, the anti-establishment voters, plus disillusioned conservatives fed up with the eurozone rescue and migration deal, are shifting more and more to the right,” he said – and straight into the arms of the AfD.
Far from being a spontaneous outpouring of fury, the protests are highly organised – and have the AfD’s fingerprints all over them.
Many of the so-called enraged citizens (‘Wutbuerger’ in German) arrive with AfD posters, reflecting the party’s success in tapping into the outrage over the arrival of more than a million refugees to Germany since 2015.
Ahead of Merkel’s planned rally on Saturday at her constituency’s Baltic Sea resort of Binz, a call has gone out on social media among self-styled ‘patriots’ to mobilise for a protest. — AFP
Over the last three to four years, the anti-establishment voters, plus disillusioned conservatives fed up with the eurozone rescue and migration deal, are shifting more and more to the right. — Timo Lochocki, German Marshall Fund political analyst