Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Sunday (September 20), she sharply improved her result in two more provinces - Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - but he will remain in the opposition in both, he writes Deutsche says.
The party, some parts of which are considered far-right, took as much as 38,2 percent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the northeast of the country, which is another big electoral victory for them. The AfD more than doubled its result and finished ahead of the Social Democrats of provincial Prime Minister Manuela Schwezig.
In contrast to Saxony-Anhalt, where two weeks ago the overwhelming victory of the AfD made the formation of the government a drama, here there is no doubt that Schwezig will remain the provincial premier.
However, one of AfD's co-presidents, Tino Hrupala, in his first statement acted as if his party was going to take power and said that he would talk to everyone. Along the way, he added that he expects the resignation of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "It would really be a relief for our country," Hrupala said.
Urban Berlin was a much more difficult terrain for the AfD. Despite the fact that it more than doubled the score here, the party stopped at 16 percent of the vote, while the Left won the election with 25 percent.
Merz's Christian Democrats hit the wall hard, since they did not pass the census in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In Berlin, they lost almost ten percent of the votes and power.
Photo: AP Photo/Michael ProbstAfD is experiencing tremendous growth in Germany
Hitting the "Firewall"
AfD's other co-president, Alice Weidel, therefore already sees her party as a "new people's" force instead of the Christian Democrats. The term "people's party" is used in Germany for large parties that appeal to all sections of society.
Weidel once again blamed the Christian Democrats for sticking to the "firewall" tactic and refusing to cooperate with the AfD. "We talk to everyone, we didn't build a fire wall," she told the Second Public Service Program.
But what do those conversations look like? Is there any chance of success? Weidel did not specifically say that.
The elections in Saxony-Anhalt at the beginning of September showed where, for now, the borders of the AfD are. There, the party took 43,8 percent and narrowly missed the absolute majority.
Although she hoped at least to cooperate with the Sara Wagenknecht Association, which barely passed the census there, nothing has come of it for now. Admittedly, other parties are not capable of forming a majority either.
What does the AfD want?
Their list holder in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Sigmund, said that he only wanted to lead a stable provincial government, not a minority one. He has repeatedly said that he is only interested in an absolute majority and that he would look forward to repeating the elections, convinced that the AfD would become even stronger.
Again, the federal leadership of the party seems to want to take over power in at least one province as soon as possible. Alice Weidel said: "As far as I'm concerned, it can be in the form of a minority government."
Weidel herself allegedly has the highest ambitions – to be the next chancellor. She was already a candidate in the federal elections at the beginning of last year, and it is believed that she will be again.
It is possible, say those who know the situation, that he sees coming into power in a province first of all as a wind at his back.
Photo: Soeren Stache/DPA via APAlice Weidel, co-president of the AfD
Protests and outbursts without effect
The rise of the party is accompanied by protests. Even before Sunday's vote in two German provinces, numerous associations and organizations appealed not to vote for the AfD.
It did not particularly bear fruit, just as minor and major scandals did not interfere either. One AfD candidate for regional parliament in Mecklenburg had to withdraw after it emerged that he had a previous conviction for bank robbery. Another pulled out because word got out that his driver's license had been permanently revoked for drunk driving.
In Berlin, drugs and souvenirs with Nazi motifs were found with an associate of the holder of the list. It's in a long line of similar outbursts – for example, Björn Hecke, head of the party's board in Thuringia, was twice convicted for using the slogan of the infamous Sturmabteilung.
Despite all this, and although the AfD is not yet a "people's party" in the entire country, it is clear that it is no longer rooted only in a narrow milieu nor is it only a party of protest. In federal polls, it is listed at around 29 percent, even nine percent more than the second-placed Christian Democrats.
Photo: AP photo/Michael ProbstRadical right party Alternative for Germany (AfD)
It is no longer a protest party.
Political scientist Marcel Lewandowski from Halle Wittenberg University explains this by the shift of society to the right and the unusually unpopular government of Chancellor Merz, in whom only 13 percent of citizens trust.
Studies show that voters who defect to vote for the AfD will not quickly return to other parties. Levandovski says that AfD successfully sowed distrust in state institutions.
AfD, writes Torben Lehning from the public service ARD, spreads a narrative according to which their success in the long term is inevitable. "Obviously, more and more voters believe that."
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