Will Germany's political 'firewall' against the far-right AfD hold? | DW News

we begin with a historic election result here in Germany the far right alternative for Germany party won Sunday's vote in the easn state of turingia where it's considered by German intelligence to be an extremist organization that threatens democracy it's the first time in modern German history that a far right party has come in first in a state election the afd won almost a third of votes in tringa and came a close second in the nearby state of Saxony but it's chance of governing remain slim as all other parties refus to cooperate with it speaking after the results were announced German Chancellor Olaf Schultz urged mainstream political parties to form coalitions without right-wing extremists the most recognizable face of Germany's far-right afd now beon hookah has led a right-wing extremist party to victory in one of Germany's 16 States for the first time in postwar Germany a historic Victory he declares now hookah aims to lead the regional government here we are ready to take on the responsibility of forming a government it's parliamentary tradition here in Germany that the strongest party invites others to talks in the coming week we'll hold talks in the party committees we'll analyze the situation and then we'll decide to whom we will present the offers of talks but just who would take up that offer is another question other parties have ruled out governing with the afd which they see as anti-democratic in Germany's other Regional election in Saxony afd came in second but their margin behind Conservative Christian democrats was razor thin the Christian democrats now face challenging Coalition talks to keep the afd at Bay the results in turingia and Saxony are also seen as a disaster for the Coalition governing in Berlin led by the center-left social Democrats the mainstream parties face another challenge in 3 weeks when a third Eastern German State Brandenburg also votes for a new Parliament the afd is leading polls there but the far-left populist BSW is also a force to be reckoned with the political landscape in the East is becoming increasingly unpredictable just one year before national elections all right let's have more detail look at the preliminary official results beginning with tringa the afd in blue here was the clear winner with nearly a third of the vote followed by the conservative CDU in black with less than a quarter Chancellor Schultz's SPD received only 6% while the other two parties in the national government the greens and the free Democrats will not be taking any seats in Parliament because they fell below the threshold of 5% the new left-wing populist Sara vagen neck Alliance in Orange outperformed her old party the left in pink let's get more on this from DW political correspondent Matthew Moore in turingia Capital airport Matthew these results are a historic victory for the afd but also for their lead candidate in turingia beond hooker what more can you tell us about him that's right bees I mean this is a big night for the afd but what's striking is that this is a victory for the man the one of the most influential people in the party and someone on the far right of the party and let me tell you a bit about buan hooker this is a man that this year alone has twice been fined by a court for using banned Nazi era slogans while out on the campaign Trail um his critics say that he uses these dog whistle um kind of retoric dog whistle um to to kind of stir up neo-nazis this is someone who by a court can be described as a fascist and quite frankly on the campaign Trail he does sound like a fascist right so this is someone who's on the extreme right wing of the party someone that it takes his cues from ethn nationalists um and so this is a victory for him on a Statewide stage and so that really sets the tone really for for where this party is at and and the willingness really of people to to to vote for someone like that here in turingia and so a milestone for the party as a whole but a real a victory for the far right of the far right despite that background did you just narrated there Matthew almost a third of the votes are going to the afd How likely is it that the the party could enter government it's going to be incredibly difficult bees because you know as we heard there is this firewall of brand ma as they say in Germany around the afd that is that Democratic parties have said they will not touch it with a barge pole not work with it try really to kind of avoid it in Parliament however you see in the campaign Trail there were parties uh you know that maybe said ah with with some issues we could maybe kind of come to an agreement and that really kind of frightened a lot of um kind of show voters out there in in in in Germany who are looking at this thing are is there going to be a crack in that firewall ultimately the parties have said that they're not going to to to negotiate with the afd the afd this morning are saying hey that's not democratically legitimate we're in the top position we should call the shots I think it's going to be very unlikely that that will happen um what you might see though is that the afd has a really strong third um of the votes now and that gives them that gives them the power to cause trouble and block constitutional votes um and that can stop them from uh calling new elections if they if they can't form a government that can stop them from appointing certain officials um in the State security apparatus for example who in the state of tring have labeled the party afd so now you kind of start to see the way in which the afd can start to wield that power they may not get into power but they certainly have some power now we leave it there for the moment DW political correspondent Matthew Moore joining us from air4 thanks so much there were elections also in the largest state of of Saxony which includes the cities of daston and leish let's have a look at the preliminary results there the mainstream conservatives came out is the strongest party with nearly 32% edging out the afd which is set to be the second strongest party the Sara vagn Alliance came in third with other parties in single digits DW political corespondent Jula selli is standing by in Saxon East Capital draon Jula so the conservatives Remain the strongest party here but will they be able to form a government well the conservatives are about to face uh some difficult negotiations to try to form that government an easy solution would be to form a government with the afd they would have definitely a majority there but uh we know that the CDU has said clearly they do not want to form an alliance with the afd they want to keep that firewall up uh to not allow the afd to come into government so if they stick to that position we will not see an easy government for nation here there is a possibility that the CDU will have to go into a minority government possibly with Chancellor Olas Schultz's SPD party possibly still with the greens but that would mean that they would need the external support of uh The Saga vagen connect Alliance who would not be part of the government but uh members of the party would probably have to vote in favor of of some of the measures that the CDU government would want to pass and that might prove complicated also because uh The Saga vagen connect Alliance has some positions that are close to those of the afd for example on migration for example uh for uh uh support uh to Ukraine which they want to uh pull back so this looks like quite a complicated situation for the CDU here in Saxony well the fact remains that the farite afd did come in second and says it does want to be part of the government is that a realistic wish it is a realistic wish but uh we have heard uh from the CDU but also from the other parties that they don't want anything to do with the afd and government we've even heard from Chancellor Olaf Schultz uh inviting all the other parties to form alliances to keep the afd out um one thing is for sure we're the afd then to be in the opposition they are likely to continue their strong uh opposition they're like to continue to drive public debate and also influence the political agenda but the big question that now arises also at the national level is can the other mainstream parties in Germany continue to keep the afd out is it something that is realistic when the afd uh gets uh so many votes and has so much support or will a Time come in Germany when the afd becomes a mainstream party and enters actual government something that has started happen happening across uh Europe but we have not yet seen in Germany we'll leave it there for the moment but thanks so much for joining us today this morning DW is jul selli in Dron thanks so much for an overall view of what these results mean I'm joined by DW's Chief political editor Michela Kua Mela good morning what do these results mean for the government at the national level with a year to go before national elections yes they put the government of Chancellor Olaf Schultz who's from the Social Democrat Party under intense pressure even the social Democrats who are leading the government are in single low single digits in both of those states that went the polls and although both states that voted on Sunday only make up just under 8% of the German population timing is key uh it shows a potential wider Trend in Germany's East in those eastern states which in the past were traditionally strongholds of the left party the successor party to the Communists of former East Germany and that appears to have completely changed in these elections um all of a sudden we see voters looking for also the identity of uh of the East um in a far right anti-migration party the alternative for Germany and the the really interesting thing today is whether we will see messages of unity that this complicated infighting three-way Coalition of Olaf Schultz and might be determined to really stick together now and get better in their messaging or whether the three parties will now go onto into booster mode of already campaigning against each other that is something that we have seen in recent weeks and months with each of the three parties in the current code Coalition eager to demonstrate their own profile and set it against the other partners so that's a big question here in berin today but what explains these results that we are seeing in the east of the country is it all to do with dissatisfaction over migration well it's not all to do with migration although migration was in spot one and two on the list of concerns of Voters but there is a deep sense of frustration um there is most of all a very Bleak Outlook into the future and this is something that actually is Nationwide and that really needs to concern Olaf Schultz to turn the tide on that um there's a lot of dissatisfaction with the central government as well which clearly didn't help um Olaf Schultz has very low popularity ratings and interestingly it was not any of those parties that are currently in the governing Coalition who manag to really make any kind of gains or or even keep their own level it is the conservatives the Angela merkel's CDU party that is the main opposition partner party here in Germany at the moment that can now claim to be the most effective way of keeping the farri alternative for Germany at Bay in these two eastern states having said that timing is everything it's an it's a regional election year here in Germany where we're going to see one more Eastern State of Brandenburg also go to the poll it is Social Democrat Le and there will be a big test for Olaf Schultz's party and himself uh whether the social Democrats can actually uh themselves hold up against the far-right afd party but I think it's rather telling that um the state Premier the Social Democrat State Premier doesn't seem that Keen on his own Chancellor appearing in that campaign so we'll know more on on the 22nd of September when those polls are conducted here we leave it there for the moment DW Chief political editor mik thanks so much