Germany’s far-right steps from the shadows into parliament
The founding fathers of post-Nazi Germany vowed it would never happen again, but it has
Dismal weather across much of Germany on election day failed to prevent the country punishing Angela Merkel for her “open-door” refugee policy as the far-right now steams in to parliament as the main opposition against her.
Although she won an historic fourth term in power, the price was high. According to exit polls, a strong anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and eurosceptic bloc called the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) has garnered nearly 100 seats in the national legislature.
It is a result that the founding fathers of the post-Nazi republic vowed would never occur again. But it has and Europe finds itself a very different place this week from where it was before the election.
The mood at AfD headquarters in Berlin was euphoric. At a nightclub in the east of Berlin where the AfD gathered to celebrate, Alexander Gauland, leader of the AfD party, said: “This is our day. We will take back our country and our people.”.
Jubilant supporters sang the national anthem as police moved in reinforcements. In a speech devoid of magnanimity in victory, Mr Gauland promised to “hunt Merkel down.”
Almost all AfD supporters are former Merkel loyalists who have turned away from her conservative CDU party because of her decision to open Germany’s borders to more than a million refugees.
Among the masses of asylum seekers were numerous ISIL terrorists who have killed and maimed people in several attacks.
As for the chancellor, she faced flying tomatoes and taunts of “traitor” and “go back to your Muslims” on the campaign trail.
The way the numbers crunched at exit polls as voting closed at 6pm in Berlin showed Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU/ CSU) with 32.5 per cent of the vote, the centre-left SPD – who were in a “grand coalition” with the CDU – on 20 per cent and the AfD with a staggering 13.5 per cent.
If they remain accurate, the AfD will have 89 MPs in the next German parliament. Ms Merkel’s CDU/CSU will hold 216 seats and the SPD will be on 133. Meanwhile, other parties such as Greens, FDP and Die Linke will have between 60 and 70 seats.
The AfD’s strong showing means it takes control of the enormously powerful budget committee in the Bundestag, the federal parliament, where it will be able to stall projects of which it does not approve.
Yet many feel Merkel has herself to blame for the setback. On Friday, with millions of voters still undecided about which way to leap, a parliamentary legal report was leaked in which non-partisan lawyers declared that her decision to allow in refugees without consulting parliament was wrong.
The findings of the report – which was commissioned by the Bundestag – may have cost her dearly, and complicates legislation over the next four years.
The presence of the far-right in parliament could intensify the difficulties in relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump. It will certainly make her want to focus more on domestic policy than foreign.
As far as Brexit goes, Britain can expect little in the way of favouritism from a leader desperate to shore up unity in a fractious EU. It never featured once as a topic on the campaign trail.
For Merkel’s SPD rival Martin Schulz the election was a wipeout – the party’s worst showing. Mr Schulz, a former head of the European Parliament, conceded: “Today was a difficult and a bitter day for the Social Democrats. I don’t want to beat about the bush, we missed our targets and lost the election.”
The voting system means that all German governments are inevitably coalitions and it could take weeks or months of wrangling before the new administration is formed. And because all major parties have vowed not to team up with the AfD it will remain a potent opposition with no allies in parliament.
With the liberal, pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) scoring 10.5 per cent of the vote, and the environmentally-friendly Greens notching up a better-than-expected 9.5 per cent, a three-wheel coalition for the next four years is a possibility.
Still, there is no getting away from the tectonic shift to the right. After the exit poll results were announced, Germany’s biggest-selling newspaper Bild commented: “Merkel victorious, but ...”