The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, scripted history on Sunday by becoming the first far-right party to win a state election in post-World War II Germany. The AfD, led by hardest-right figure Björn Höcke, won in AfD’s victory in Thuringia and strong second place in Saxony, delivering a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious government.
The wins, which many consider Germany's tilt to the right, came despite leaders, including Scholz’s center-left party leaders, trying to curb its rise. Many mainstream leaders have warned voters, citing AfD's "growing extremism". Some even went far as to call it a Nazi party.
Scholz did not hide his disappointment. Not only did his SPD coalition slump to fifth position in both states, but poll figures, just a year ahead of the federal elections, show that AfD could become the second-largest group in the German federal parliament, with the SDP trailing in third.
The chancellor called the results "bitter" and called on mainstream parties in Thuringia and Saxony to exclude the AfD from any state governing coalitions. "All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists," Scholz said in a statement. "Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation."
There were intelligence reports that the local branches of the party in both Saxony and Thuringia were extremist organisations. Höcke himself was twice found guilty by a German court of purposely employing Nazi rhetoric.
However, analysts believe it would be tough for centrist parties to curb the ascent of AfD, particularly in Germany’s East. The anti-establishment fervour prevalent in the country with growing mistrust of the centrists has swayed public opinion in favour of the right-wing parties. The federal government's centre-left three-party coalition managed to get only 32% in nationwide opinion polls last month.
"Voters wanted to send a signal to Berlin above all," Jens Spahn, a senior CDU lawmaker told ZDF television. "They want to send a signal to the (coalition) that the chancellor no longer has their confidence. Olaf Scholz is the face of failure in Thuringia and Saxony too," he said.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, told German public broadcaster ARD that the results were a "requiem" for Scholz’s coalition.
The AfD has been very staunch about its opposition to immigration. Its leadership often blames left and centrist parties for turning Germany "into a country without borders, where anyone can come in and we do nothing about it." AfD’s believes the solution is in immediate expulsion of all illegal immigrants from our country.
Extremist parties have a stronghold in Germany’s formerly communist east, where economic growth is less and opportunities more scarce than in the richer west. "There’s a much more anti-political sentiment in East Germany, which has its roots in the transformative years of the 1990s” after the collapse of communism," Johannes Kiess, a sociologist at the University of Leipzig specialising in far-right extremism, told CNN. "Mainstream parties perform less well in the east, creating space for anti-establishment parties like the AfD and political entrepreneurs like Wagenknecht," he said.