As of: February 3, 2024, 10:56 a.m
By: Peter Sieben, Moritz Maier
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The AfD is on the rise, but civil society is stirring.
The key to resistance lies in local coalitions.
Erfurt/Dresden/Potsdam – The political landscape in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg could soon turn into AfD blue.
The upcoming state elections in the fall could bring the AfD victory in all three federal states.
However, nationwide protests are forming against the party.
SPD politicians and an extremism researcher emphasize how important it is in the fight against the right to show citizens directly on site the consequences of an AfD victory.
Before state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg: Encourage each other
The revelation of the expulsion plans at a secret meeting of right-wing circles in Potsdam recently caused outrage and widespread protest.
Isabel Cademartori, SPD member of the Bundestag, commented on this to
IPPEN.MEDIA
: “The revelations have shaken up a lot of people in Germany.”
She added: “Across Germany, both small and large cities are breaking demonstration records.
This strong reaction from civil society is gratifying and necessary to counter the right-wing narrative that they are the “voice of the people.” Although support for the AfD at the federal level is currently waning somewhat, the party remains strong in the three electoral states leads the polls.
Cademartori also sees this: “The AfD has a stable core of supporters.
This is shown by the extremely close election result of the Thuringian district election amid the wave of protests.”
For years, the moderate parties have been trying to put the AfD in its place politically, but with limited success.
Kathrin Michel, chairwoman of the SPD in Saxony, sees the nationwide demonstrations against right-wing extremism as an effective means of countering the AfD.
She believes protests in smaller communities in particular are the right approach.
Michel emphasizes that it's not about party affiliation: "If I meet three people from my company at the demo, I know I can rely on them when it comes to our democracy."
She adds: “People need to empower and encourage each other at a local level;
in voluntary work, in the gymnastics club or in the company.”
Saxon SPD chairwoman: Talk to people regardless of politics
Michel advocates exposing the AfD's positions at the local level and discussing real solutions.
This does not have to be done as part of a political event as these scare many people away.
Instead, politicians should also enter into discussions outside of the political framework.
“People then talk about their problems and worries on their own initiative.
There’s politics involved in conversations like this, even though it doesn’t say politics at all.”
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Kathrin Michel and Henning Homann are the chairmen of the Saxon SPD.
They are convinced that the fight against the AfD can only succeed at a local level.
© SPD Saxony/ Stefan Kraft/ Canva
Hennig Homann, co-chair of the SPD in Saxony, also underlines the importance of local political participation.
He warns that even local elections are increasingly being used as a vote on the traffic light coalition.
Despite the importance of the federal level, the focus should be on local problems, said Homann: “It must be clear: the fight against the right is not decided in Berlin-Mitte, but here locally.”
Former Mayor of Mannheim: Big difference between 'democratic' and 'democratically elected'
At the local level, the right words are crucial, emphasizes Peter Kurz, SPD politician and former mayor of Mannheim.
It is important to refute common arguments, such as: The AfD is a democratically elected party.
“This is an intentional or massive ignorance-based equating of 'democratic' and 'democratically elected',” said Kurz.
He adds: “The National Socialists’ cynical amusement that democracy had provided the means to eliminate them still rang in the ears of the mothers and fathers of our Basic Law.”
Hajo Funke, professor emeritus and expert on right-wing extremism, believes these findings are more important than ever.
Funke also sees “big politics” and the traffic light coalition with their bad reputation as being partly responsible for people’s frustration.
But in his opinion, the fight against the (extreme) right can only be successful at a local level.
Before the state elections, he considers the local elections, which will take place in June in many federal states, to be crucial: “This is the chance that the Democrats still have to mobilize the civilian population at the level of cities and villages.” It is not just the parties that play a role key role, but also new alliances of citizens.
Clubs, companies and local citizens should unite against the AfD
According to Funke, local associations and regional companies should join forces and explain to their fellow human beings, friends and neighbors the effects of the AfD policy on their region and its residents.
This model has already proven successful in Thuringia: “Nordhausen is a good example of this; a clearly favored AfD candidate there was not elected because an alliance was formed locally against him.” Last year, in the runoff election Mayor the independent candidate Kai Buchmann prevailed.
Funke cites the “cosmopolitan Thuringia” initiative as another flagship project.
Here, citizens and companies at the local level are committed to democracy and diversity, regardless of party.
The expert on right-wing extremism Hajo Funke sees local alliances as the greatest opportunity in the fight against the AfD.
© imago images/photo library
But what about the often cited understanding of dissatisfied protest voters?
Should there be more dialogue?
The SPD politician Isabel Cademartori has a different opinion: No.
“This rhetoric obscures the fact that over the last few years everyone who has a largely closed right-wing extremist world view, and almost everyone else who is clearly to the right of the democratic spectrum, has found themselves as supporters of the AfD.” They are therefore “regular voters” against it become the “system”.
“No harmonization of content, no demonstrated 'understanding' will bring them back in the short term.” Only those who do not want to give up democracy can be reached.
Cademartori emphasizes that only education and a clear positioning can help here: “It is necessary to have a realistic assessment of how few potential right-wing extremist voters can now be brought back by democratic parties.” Only a clear “attitude and demarcation to the right “that does not blur the boundaries between democrats and right-wing extremists” can limit the spread of the AfD beyond the core voters it has already won.