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A demonstrator at a demo against corona measures
Photo: STRINGER / AFP
In the two years of the pandemic, the “lateral thinkers” have established themselves as a constant, and even with the measures largely lifted, they continue to protest against an alleged dictatorship from Berlin.
The Allensbach Institute has now asked Germans about their trust in democracy on behalf of SWR.
The result: According to a survey, almost a third of Germans question the political system in Germany.
In the representative survey, 31 percent of the participants said they lived in a »sham democracy« in which the citizens had nothing to say.
The East-West difference is striking: In West Germany, 28 percent believe they live in a »sham democracy«.
In the eastern German federal states, this opinion is represented by 45 percent of those questioned.
According to the survey, 28 percent of all Germans think that the democratic system in Germany needs to be “fundamentally changed”.
The Allensbach Institute carried out the survey on behalf of SWR for the documentary "Story im Erste: Murder at the gas station - from protest to violence?", which will be broadcast on ARD on Monday evening.
According to the broadcaster, the question is to what extent radical right-wing attitudes, conspiracy theories and opinions that endanger democracy are widespread in connection with the protest against the corona measures.
»Among the Corona deniers there are a striking number of right-wing extremists«
In September, a gas station employee was shot dead in Idar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate.
It was the most serious known crime in connection with the corona pandemic in Germany.
The 50-year-old is said to have shot his 20-year-old victim after a dispute about the mask requirement.
The trial against him began in March.
Thomas Petersen, project manager of the Allensbach study, draws a differentiated picture in the documentary: “Among the corona deniers there are a striking number of right-wing extremists.
Certainly not everyone who is marching there is a Nazi.
But there are connections.
We see quite clearly that right-wing extremists adhere to corona conspiracy theories much more frequently than non-right-wing extremists - and AfD supporters far more frequently than supporters of all other parties," says Petersen.
mrc/AFP
