The rightist Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party has made waves across Europe after it secured an outright win in Thuringia and landed only one point behind in Saxony in local elections over the weekend. The next federal election will be held in the fall of 2025.The AfD is 11 years old and founded in opposition to German taxpayers bailing out other countries, such as Greece, and allowing in a flood of so-called Syrian refugees. The party, staunchly against mass immigration, has steadily gained support in recent years, especially among young people. In Thuringia, the AfD secured 37% of votes among 18 to 24-year-olds — up 20 percentage points from 2019. In Saxony, the AfD won 31% of the vote in the same age group, up 14 percentage points from 2019.The AfD, delivering a significant blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government, on SUnday won 33% of the vote in Thuringia, Germany’s eastern region. In Saxony, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Angela Merkel’s former party won the first round of voting with 32%m followed by AfD with nearly 31%, per CNN. “For us, it’s a historic success,” said AfD's main national leader Alice Weidel, per Politico. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a leftist party with communist ties, finished third in both regions. The current federal coalition government, made up of local branches of three coalition parties, Scholz’s leftist Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), was demolished in both states. At least 50% of votes are requires to form a coalition. The Greens and the FDP didn’t even make the 5% required to gain seats. “For the SPD, this is not an evening to cheer,” said SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, according to Politico. Yet, due to the structure of Germany’s coalition governance system, the AfD will continue to face challenges rising to power — each party to have won state parliament seats flat out refuse to work with AfD. The rightist party however, having won one-third of the seats in Thuringia, will be able to block certain decisions made by the coalition, including the appointment of state judges. People in Thuringia and Saxony cited immigration among the top three most pressing issues the country faces, along with crime and “social protection,” per Politico. The publication cited a survey from German media that found 81% of voters agree with the statement: “We need a fundamentally different asylum and refugee policy so that fewer people come to us.”Björn Höcke, AfD’s Thuringia leader, told state broadcaster ARD he is “more than happy" with the election outcome. “(The result) fills me with great pride and satisfaction,” he said. Scholz on Monday denounced the “bitter” results of the election, and called for other parties to smoke out the AfD with a “cordon sanitaire” — which means the prevention of spreading undesirable influences. “All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists,” said Scholz 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.”The AfD can only govern with the support of a coalition, as per Germany’s governance system. According to the BBC, Weidel said Thuringia Saxony constituents had given the AfD a "very clear mandate to govern” and parties should ignore Shotlz’s comments, warning they would "undermine the democratic participation of large sections of the population.”“Firewalls are undemocratic," said Weidel. Weidel told ARD the results were a “requiem” of Germany’s coalition leadership under Sholtz. She questioned “whether it can continue to govern at all.”At a campaign rally in Thuringia Weidel told CNN Germany has become “a country without borders, where anyone can come in and we do nothing about it.”The publication noted people at the rally were chanting “deport, deport.” “The immediate expulsion of all illegal immigrants from our country. All criminals, all extremists must leave,” she said.
