Far-right AFD celebrate rare victory as opposition ‘goes for a joint’

‘The decision is correct in substance, unacceptable in procedure. That was a mistake”

THE far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) party scored a rare political victory in Saxony after an opposition councillor announced he was “going for a joint” and missed a vote.

Dresden city council on Friday debated a motion calling for asylum seekers to be given payment cards rather than cash to buy food and supplies. The proposal had been put forward by the AFD, who have been officially ruled as Right-wing extremists by Germany’s intelligence services in Saxony.

After hours of debate, Max Aschenbeck, the opposition councillor, from the satirical “Dissident” party announced on X, formally Twitter, shortly before 6pm that he was “going for a joint”. Cannabis remains illegal in Germany but is set to be legalised on April 1. By the time Mr Aschenbeck, who is proudly described by his party as a “convicted criminal since 2018”, returned to the town hall, the motion had passed by the slim margin of 53 votes to 52.

Voting with the AFD is a political taboo in post-war Germany known as the “firewall”, where all parties cooperate with each other to limit the influence of the far-right.

The result of Friday’s vote has caused nationwide uproar because the motion was passed with votes from established parties such as the conservative Christian Democrats, whose leader promised an investigation into the local party.

Friedrich Merz said: “The decision is correct in substance, unacceptable in procedure. That was a mistake. And we will talk to those affected about everything else”. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was forced to resign in 2020 after being unable to control an eastern state party voting with the AFD.

The so-called firewall is proving increasingly difficult to maintain as the far-right party gains influence across eastern Germany, electing their first mayors and senior councillors in 2023.

An independent councillor who voted for the motion complained that municipalities had been “literally left out in the cold with the refugee problem”, adding that Dresden alone had taken in nearly 5000. Many eastern cities have complained about being unable to deal with refugees amid a tightening of local government budgets.

Payment cards, aimed to limit expenditure on refugees, have already been introduced in northern Germany and could be brought in nationwide according to Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, as migration remains a sore point in German politics ahead of the European elections in June.