As soon as the first election results in Saxony-Anhalt were announced, reactions on social media, at political party headquarters, and on the streets of some cities in the country were immediate. In Berlin, various left-wing and antifascist organizations and ordinary citizens gathered to show their rejection of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) victory, which would nearly reach an absolute majority, and to demand its ban. Daniela Hinz traveled from the neighboring state of Brandenburg with her daughter and her daughter’s friends. “Unfortunately, I already imagined this result and I am deeply dismayed. We all have to stand up. It makes no sense to resign ourselves,” she says. “In Brandenburg, we already have the AfD in Parliament, which is terrible. And it can be seen all over Europe that this shift to the right is taking hold everywhere. That’s why I hope many people mobilize and take to the streets to protest,” added this woman.
Read more Alcaraz lets loose, the warm-up is behind: fun and heading to the US Open quarterfinals
But the reality is that at this gathering there were only about 500 people early in the evening. The frustration is evident on the face of Markus Tervooren, from the Berlin Association of Persecuted by the Nazi Regime. “We are more than dismayed by the fact that, for the first time since 1945, there is the threat that a fascist government could come to power in a federal state of Germany. And what angers us greatly is that, until now, the AfD has not been banned,” he told this newspaper.
Tervooren, like many participants in the demonstration, holds the traditional parties partly responsible for the radicals’ victory for not having done much to prevent the rise of the AfD. “The parties, the SPD, the CDU, the Greens, and the Left have never really committed. We are very concerned about what will happen in Saxony-Anhalt because, regardless of whether the AfD can form a government or not, there will be a very complicated, probably unbearable situation for left-wing trade unionists, refugees, and LGBTIQ people. It will get worse and worse,” he predicted.
Turning point
The sorrow was also felt among the political class. For the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), this Sunday’s result represents a wake-up call for the country and a tremendous blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s party, which would have about 16 deputies, compared to the current 40.
“We have never before experienced a situation in which a party, classified as far-right by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has obtained the majority,” said the leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei.
Read more United States, about to lose to Italy their first official match in 20 years
“This result is undoubtedly a turning point for the party and for the country,” said the head of the Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Affairs, Nina Warken. Like Frei, the head of the Chancellery defended the government’s policies and assured that the necessary reforms for the country are being carried out. “We are in the midst of a transformation process. The federal government must undertake important, though also difficult, reforms. Some of them have already been launched, others we will launch now,” she said.
“The truth is that citizens have not yet perceived the positive aspects that these reforms will bring and are expected to bring. And that is why we are in a difficult situation,” added Warken, considered one of the figures closest to Chancellor Merz.
However, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil has accused the federal government, of which his party is part, of being one of the causes of the election result in Saxony-Anhalt. In an interview with German public television, Klingbeil acknowledged that many citizens are dissatisfied with the government’s reformist direction and that the AfD victory is a reason to reflect. “Rest assured that this is precisely what we will do,” he promised.
“Resistance does not begin but continues,” meanwhile repeated activists in the streets who have been fighting for years to ban the AfD. “There have never been as many left-wing antifascist protests and demonstrations as there are now,” celebrated Markus Tervooren. “The success of the AfD has motivated antifascist and citizen resistance,” he said, recalling that 15,000 people protested on Saturday in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt.
Read more Espanyol rescues a heart-stopping point against a Sevilla that held on with one less player
