The AfD celebrated great successes in the 2017 federal election, but this year it has to back off. The party lost votes in almost all federal states – but the East remained loyal to it. Experts do not see this as an entertaining phenomenon.
Five percent in Hamburg, just under 25 percent in Saxony: the AfD shows that the republic is divided. Overall, the Bundestag election went downhill for the right-wing party around top people Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. Nationwide, it only comes to 10.3 percent – in 2017 it was 12.6 percent. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony – a minus and single-digit values everywhere. In Saxony and Thuringia, however, the party made it to number one with around a quarter of the votes, and in second place in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Will the AfD become a “League East”?
AfD boss Jörg Meuthen himself drew the comparison to the right-wing populist Italian regional party Lega Nord on election evening. “If we want to move forward, we have to be just as successful in the west as we are in the east,” said Meuthen of the German press agency. He hoped that everyone in the party would be aware of this. The AfD should not become the “Lega Ost”. After all, the AfD wants to influence the fate of the entire country, said Meuthen.
“We have clearly remained a people’s party here in the East”
His co-boss Chrupalla, who defended his direct mandate in Saxony, sees things the other way around: In view of the strong values almost everywhere in the east, he is overall satisfied with the result of the federal election. The successful AfD regional associations promptly sent reminders to the west. More program loyalty is needed, said the Thuringian co-party leader Stefan Möller of the German press agency (dpa). It would be “good to learn from the East”.
Because, as the AfD boss in Saxony-Anhalt, Martin Reichardt sees it: “We have clearly remained a people’s party here in the East.” The AfD could not be dismissed as a mere protest party, because it was assigned competencies in many areas, Reichardt told the DPA.
The AfD in Saxony – “carers on site”?
Experts see it very similarly. The Dresden political scientist Hans Vorländer had predicted even before the election that the strength of the AfD in East Germany would be permanent. “The AfD has also established itself organizationally in individual milieus and groups, including in companies,” said the professor at TU Dresden. The party presented itself as a caretaker on site. And is also in demand among young people. “New voters are growing again,” said Vorländer.
In the U-18 elections for children and young people last week, the party actually came out on top in Saxony and Thuringia. Thuringia’s head of state Möller said that one of the main reasons for the country’s success is that one “uncompromisingly advocates one’s own line”. “We address things for which we are beaten up by others.” The observation of the regional association by the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a direct consequence of this. “But that is honored by the people,” said Möller.
The dispute over the direction of the party wing continues
His party benefits from state skepticism, disenchantment with democracy and economic inequality in the eastern federal states. “The AfD is elected by citizens who, in addition to the Merkel government, also view the Chancellor candidates critically, who have their own views on climate policy, corona measures or foreigners and for whom the AfD is a communication platform,” the research group analyzed Elections on Sunday.
In the dispute over the direction of the AfD, which has been going on for years, the right wing wing around the Thuringian AfD country chief Björn Höcke should feel strengthened. Because he has long argued that the popularity in the East is evidence that the AfD can achieve better results with even greater demarcation from other parties. The moderate camp around Meuthen, on the other hand, maintains that there is nothing to be gained in the West. But apparently he does not have a recipe for success for the western federal states either. Meuthen is no longer firmly in the saddle in the internal scramble.
Höcke, on the other hand, is already setting new goals. After the election victory in the Bundestag election in Thuringia, the AfD should also be the strongest force in the next state election.
You can see in the video: Thomas Steinmann, editor in the capital office of stern, Capital and Business Punk, classifies the first prognoses for the federal election of ARD and ZDF in an interview.
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