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‘First time in history’: Far-right AfD backing for regional politician shocks Germany

The tiny central state of Thuringia broke a German political taboo Wednesday when a candidate for the regional premiership was unexpectedly heaved into office with help from the far-right AfD party, prompting outrage.

Published: 5 February 2020 14:02 CET
Updated: 5 February 2020 18:52 CET
'First time in history': Far-right AfD backing for regional politician shocks Germany
The Left's Bodo Ramelow lost the state premier vote in Thuringia. Photo: DPA

Thomas Kemmerich, a politician from the economically liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), scored 45 votes, leapfrogging incumbent Bodo Ramelow of the Left party (die Linke) by one vote.

Ramelow has served as state premier since 2014.

The result comes despite the FDP having just five seats in the Thuringia state parliament, and has led to many accusing mainstream parties like the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) of working with the AfD.

“This is the first time in the history of modern Germany that a state premier has been elected into office with AfD votes,” Erfurt political scientist André Brodocz told German broadcaster MDR on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: What does the far-right AfD's success in Thuringia mean for Germany?

The AfD's own candidate received zero votes, indicating the party's state legislators aligned as a bloc behind Kemmerich.

While the vote was secret, the liberal candidate must also have enjoyed support from lawmakers belonging to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU, as well as his FDP stablemates.

In total, the opposition parties of the CDU, FDP and AfD have 48 seats in the state parliament – six more than the minority coalition.

Media were quick to describe the event as a “political earthquake”, as mainstream parties had so far refused to countenance working with anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-EU AfD at any level.

Addressing the local parliament in Erfurt, Kemmerich sought to assuage concerns by insisting he would stick to a pre-election pledge not to work with the AfD.

“You have in me a bitter opponent of anything that even hints at radicalism, from the right or left, or fascism,” he said, to jeers from local MPs and shouts of “Hypocrite!” and “Charlatan!”.

How did it happen?

The far-left Die Linke (the Left), scooped 31 percent of the vote in Thuringia's state election last October, marking the first time the party has come out on top in a regional vote in Germany.

But the Left, centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens were unable to continue their majority in the Thuringia state parliament and decided to continue as a minority government.

Meanwhile, last October’s vote saw the AfD surge into second place in Thuringia with 23.4 percent. And this outcome shows how the party is using its new-found power.

Brigit Keller of The Left congratulates Thomas Kemmerich of the FDP. Photo: DPA

'Bad day for liberals'

People from across the political spectrum quickly condemned the tacit cooperation between CDU, FDP and AfD.

“Every decent liberal should be ashamed that an FDP man has been elected with votes from the AfD,” tweeted Hubertus Heil, federal labour minister from SPD.

Voices within the FDP were divided, with board member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann tweeting that the “unacceptable and unbearable” alliance made it a “bad day for me as a liberal”.

But the party's deputy leader Wolfgang Kubicki welcomed Kemmerich's election as state premier.

AfD co-leader Jörg Meuthen told the Frankfurter Allgemeine daily the vote showed there was “less distance” between the CDU, FDP and AfD than other parties, showing the movement was part of a “middle class” majority.

It would be “understandable” if the AfD demanded ministerial jobs in Kemmerich's government, he added.

READ ALSO: AfD surges to second place in Thuringia state election

As in other eastern states, the autumn 2019 election brought a surge there for the AfD.

But in light of the firewall towards the far right, incumbent state premier Ramelow was widely tipped to be reelected.

The surprise result led to anger on social media. The hashtag #Thüringen was trending on Twitter on Wednesday.

Retired German footballer Hans Serbei said it was a “sad day” for Germany.

“For the first time since the war, Nazis help a state premier into office. I'm speechless.”

Despite the 2019 regional election robbing his coalition of absolute control in the state parliament, most observers had expected Ramelow, a popular local politician, to win a simple majority.

Talks to find a possible majority coalition, rather than continuing with his weakened alliance of Left party, social democrats (SPD) and Greens, were complicated by national politics.

Merkel's CDU, who placed third in last year's ballot after the Left and the AfD, argue both are too extreme in their positions and have a nationwide policy of not working with either party.

The dam breaking in Thuringia is all the more surprising to observers as the AfD's leader there, Björn Höcke, is one of the party's most radical figures, heading a loose movement within the party known as the “Wing”.

Björn Höcke congratulating Thomas Kemmerich. Photo: DPA

He has in the past called for a “180 degree turn” in Germany's culture of remembrance for the Holocaust and other crimes of the Nazis, which form a central pillar of the country's post-World War II political life.

Jewish leader 'horrified'

Wednesday marked a “new start for Thuringian politics,” Höcke said, adding the AfD had helped stop it becoming a “left-wing state”.

Central Council of Jews in Germany president Josef Schuster said in a statement he was “horrified” by Wednesday's vote.

“The FDP has quit the consensus among democratic parties not to work together with the AfD or to count on the far right's support,” Schuster said.

Kemmerich is only the second FDP state premier in modern German history.

Chairman of the Left Party, Bernd Riexinger, said it was 'breaking a taboo'.

The SPD in Thuringia accused the FDP of “disregarding the will of the voters”

After the election of Kemmerich, which it supported, the Thuringian CDU has demanded separation from the AfD.

“The decisive thing now is that Kemmerich makes it clear that there is no coalition with the AfD,” CDU party and faction leader Mike Mohring said.

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POLITICS

ANALYSIS: What’s at stake in Germany’s eastern state elections?

After success in Thuringia and Saxony, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) may well come in first in another eastern state election this Sunday. We spoke with a political scientist to analyse what's at stake as Brandenburg goes to the polls.

Published: 19 September 2024 09:11 CEST
ANALYSIS: What's at stake in Germany's eastern state elections?

German politics’ “eastern September” is set to finally end Sunday – with more ruminations and reflections likely to come about the recent fortunes of the far-right AfD at the ballot box.

If current polls are anything to go by, the AfD could come in first in the eastern state encircling Berlin – which counts Potsdam as its capital.

After overtaking the governing Social Democrats (SPD) in a recent shock poll, the party is currently at around 28 percent, compared to the SPD on 25 percent. The centre-right Christian Democrats come in at 16 percent in the latest poll and the left-populist Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – named after its founder – charts in at 14 percent.

The remaining parties come in much lower – with the Greens, Left and liberal Free Democrats all facing possible ejection from the state parliament.

Another victory for the AfD – or even a strong showing should the SPD still manage a narrow surprise win – will certainly boost the far-right’s confidence, after it came in first in Thuringia and second in Saxony earlier this month, following state elections that saw all three of Germany’s federally governing parties take massive losses.

Thuringia and Saxony results will likely hang over Brandenburg on Sunday – with Germany’s governing parties, many everyday Germans, and foreigners all watching with some trepidation. Here’s what to watch out for following the Brandenburg result.

READ ALSO: ‘Political earthquake’ – What the far-right AfD state election win means for Germany 

A newly confident AfD insists it must be part of government

The AfD has repeatedly argued that it must be considered as a possible coalition partner to join German governments – whether at the federal, state, or local level. 

“There are no politics without the AfD,” its co-leader Tino Chrupalla said following the Thuringia results. However, all other parties have explicitly refused to work with the AfD to form a governing coalition – meaning that as high as its results this month have been, they fall well short of the absolute majority that would be required to govern alone.

READ ALSO: ‘We need change’: Germany’s far-right eyes power after state election win

However, its getting more difficult to form coalitions to keep the AfD out, with the centre-right CDU in Thuringia even open to governing with the leftwing populist BSW after mainstream parties like the Greens and FDP were thrown out of state parliament entirely.

University of Mainz political scientist Kai Arzheimer, who specialises in the German far-right, says whether the far-right ever get into a German government or not depends mostly on whether – and how – the CDU is willing to work with the AfD.

Thuringia election results on a screen

People watch the first exit polls results for Thuringia’s state elections come in at the State Parliament in Erfurt on September 1st, 2024. Photo by Joerg CARSTENSEN / AFP

“For the time being, it should be able to form coalitions against the AfD, even if they are rather awkward,” says Arzheimer, who adds that even the different regional chapters of the CDU may have different opinions about working with the AfD.

“Within the eastern state parties of both the CDU and the FDP, there seems to be some appetite for coming to an arrangement with the AfD. While a formal coalition would probably split either party, we have already seen some tentative moves towards an informal cooperation.”

Ultimately, the Brandmauer or “firewall” concept in German politics – in which all other parties refuse to work with the AfD – may end up coming under increasing stress on the back of eastern state election results, where governing with the far-right no longer becomes unthinkable.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Could the far-right AfD ever take power in Germany?

What the mainstream parties take from eastern election results

It’s probably no coincidence that Germany’s ruling government decided to re-institute border controls at its land borders with other EU states shortly after the AfD topped the Thuringia state poll, according to Arzheimer, who says the elections are just the latest in a number of things at work when if comes to Germany’s migration debate.

“The border controls, the plans for the stricter enforcement of repatriation orders, and most of all the government’s harsher rhetoric are as much a reaction to Saxony and Thuringia as they are an attempt to control the fallout from the Solingen knife attack and a response to the whole ‘debate’ on immigration,” he says.

“Many experts seem to agree that they are neither practical nor that useful, and introducing them more or less overnight smacks of a degree of panic.”

READ ALSO: Should foreign residents in Germany be concerned about far-right AfD win?

Polls conducted following the election found that migration and internal security issues were big drivers of the AfD vote – despite these being issues for the national, rather than regional, government. 

Of the AfD voters in Thuringia, more than 70 percent said either migration or crime and internal security played the largest role in influencing their vote. Slightly less than ten percent said social security. Despite the AfD’s pro-Russian views, only three percent of AfD voters in Thuringia said Germany’s support of Ukraine decisively influenced their votes.

Besides the mainstream parties like the SPD reacting with spur-of-the-moment migration policies, the Brandenburg result may end up putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz from within his own SPD.

Brandenburg SPD’s Dietmar Woidke may still be able to hold onto the premiership, but he has said he will resign if he doesn’t beat the AfD outright. Should he lose, calls may grow louder within the SPD for Scholz to resign himself – or at least declare that he won’t stand as a chancellor candidate again.

READ ALSO: How an explosive row over immigration has divided Germany

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