No political elite has shown its contempt for the population as clearly as the current German government.
The German left-liberal government is seriously thinking about banning the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party before the EP elections at the beginning of the summer. The idea caused outrage, even among voters who did not sympathize with the party. Many people are afraid that if the plan is implemented, it may set a precedent and other parties that the government does not like may be banned.
On the German left-liberal side, the voices that demand the banning of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are getting louder.
As the AfD achieves better and better results in the parliamentary and local elections, the calls for the party to be banned are getting stronger. The reason is clear: the parties of the political mainstream in Germany, especially those that participate in the coalition – Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats – and the opposition Christian Democrats are afraid that the Dutch example will become contagious. The hard-line anti-immigration force can seriously squeeze the traditional parties in the EP elections at the beginning of the summer, as well as in the subsequent provincial contests.
Because what happened in the Netherlands last November? Nervousness, disappointed sighs, frozen faces, this characterized the mood of those present in the Dutch waiting room. As the counting of votes in the parliamentary elections progressed, the atmosphere became increasingly tense. At some point it became clear that nervous left-liberal politicians were facing the realization of the worst possible scenario for them.
The strongly anti-immigration Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders became the largest political grouping in the Netherlands. The Freedom Party won 37 seats in the 150-member lower house of the Dutch parliament, doubling its support compared to its last election result in 2021.
Maybe in the EP elections at the beginning of summer, there will be even more and even more worried people waiting for the results in Berlin. Because it is very possible that the AfD will produce a breakthrough that no one dared to think about even a few months ago. The mood change in German society is not only generated by problems caused by illegal migration. The entanglement of the troubles, the result of several independent conflicts, caused an explosive situation in German society.
The intensification of street rioting by illegal migrants coincided with the rise in energy prices - coincidentally due to the explosion of the Nord Stream, the forced import of American liquefied gas at four times the price, and the closing of nuclear power plants - the economic management on an ideological basis continues unstoppably to downsize industry, which is why production is decreasing . The idea of patching the €60 billion gaping hole in the budget, which is to take away farmers' tax benefits and impose new taxes on them, has approached the boiling point in its effect. We saw what happened at the farmers' demonstrations.
All these are tangible financial problems. But there is another aspect, the now general German social discontent, which Harald Martenstein pointed out in the columns of Die Welt. He writes: Not even a single political elite has shown its contempt for the population so clearly. According to the popular publicist, the Germans' concerns about climate change and immigration are justified and the government classifies all its opposition as far-right due to the panic.
Then Martensein continues: The demand for regulated migration or reasonable climate policy cannot be linked to right-wing extremism.
And how does the government respond to these challenges? German Economy Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) called on the security agencies to take tough action against the AfD. Habeck also said he would not rule out banning the AfD. These sentences amount to a political death knell. Surveillance of a legally functioning parliamentary party by secret services is not exactly a democratic procedure. You can do something like that, but only on the basis of a judge's decision, but never at the request of a politician. According to Habeck, the AfD wants to turn Germany into an authoritarian state, but he could not present any evidence to support his claim. Let's add to all this that banning the AfD is a foolish idea, because the necessary procedure cannot be carried out until the EP elections.
Martenstein, quoted above, warns, among other things, that German taxpayers have been bled everywhere. "The state no longer sees itself as a service provider. Instead, it regards the population as subjects who are subject to the government's plans for social restructuring without limit.
According to recent surveys, the popularity of the AfD ranges between 20 and 30 percent nationally. In the eastern provinces, the party is stronger, in the western regions its popularity is close to the lowest value. But in eastern Saxony, the AfD stands at 37 percent, meaning it could win an absolute majority in the local parliament after regional elections in September.
Socialists can claim three percent.
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Hannibal Hanschke
