The strategies of the other parties failed miserably in Sonneberg. That must be a warning to us. What can help now?
It is a turning point for Germany: For the first time, a politician from the AfD has won the election for a top municipal office. With Robert Stuhlmann, a member of the Thuringian Höcke Association, who is considered to be right-wing extremist, will in future administer the district of Sonneberg.
It is a small district, one of the smallest in Germany – and a district administrator’s scope for influence is limited. But the signal that Stuhlmann’s victory sends is huge: right-wing extremism is once again able to gain a majority in Germany.
This is fatal, especially with a view to the state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia in 2024. Because the AfD is already getting top ratings in polls here.
“The other parties have become unelectable”: That’s what the Sonnebergers say about the election result. (Source: Reuters)
Failed with a bang
The strategies of the other parties to keep the AfD small have failed miserably. If you want to talk about strategies at all. So far it has usually gone like this: the CDU tried to copy the AfD – and after many lost elections it still didn’t understand that it was only driving voters to the original.
The other parties, on the other hand, ignore the AfD as long as they can. Only when the AfD is so strong that it enters runoff elections, as in Sonneberg, do they suddenly wake up and all unite against the AfD.
Not even the joint support of the SPD, Greens, Left and FDP for the CDU candidate helped in Sonneberg. On the contrary: Compared to the first ballot, participation in the runoff increased – and even more people voted for the AfD than before.
This is unusual, as generally fewer people go to the polls in the second ballot. In Sonneberg, however, the people did not become more tired. Some grew even more angry, even more defiant. This was ensured not least by those parties who had joined forces to prevent the AfD from happening at the last minute.
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No more denial and alibi rituals
Parties and the media do not have to find a new way of dealing with the AfD, but rather with the German population. Firstly, something that has not been dealt with for too long must urgently be dealt with.
This finally includes a debate about the still wide gulf between East and West as well as an understanding in the West for the experiences of many in the dictatorship. But also a new confrontation with racism and hostility to the state in Germany. Because all too often the so-called protest voters mix fears of relegation, envy and hatred of “those up there” and “the foreigners”.
The democratic parties have to admit that a large part of the German population is easily seduced by populism. There are decades of denial to catch up on. Just think of the former Prime Minister of Saxony, Biedenkopf, who was still of the opinion in 2000 that his Saxons were immune to right-wing extremism.
There should also be an end to the same rituals and empty phrases on anniversaries of right-wing murders and attacks. Laying wreaths won’t get us anywhere. Germany needs to invest in the minds of its citizens: in conveying a genuine understanding of democracy and the German past. In the lesson of how deadly National Socialism was and how much happiness true freedom means – for everyone, not just for a part of society.
These investments are sorely needed. So far, politics has allowed the least money to flow into these areas – because they only have a long-term effect or because they were not even recognized as necessary tasks: in schools, in leisure facilities, in social and family work.
