The electoral colleges of Thuringia and SaxonyThe two eastern German states opened elections early on Sunday morning to elect regional parliaments, which could have repercussions at the federal level due to the rise of the far right and the expected fall of the Chancellor’s coalition parties Olaf Scholz.
In Thuringia, around 1.5 million voters are eligible to vote in 44 constituencies and 15 different parties are running in the elections. In Thuringia, the far right is leading the polls of voting intentions Alternative for Germany (AfD)a group against which the other parties have placed a cordon sanitaire, their chances of forming a government are therefore quite slim.
In Saxony, almost three million voters will be able to cast their ballots in 60 constituencies. Polls point to a close duel between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the AfD.
In Thuringia, a coalition chaired by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow’s left-wing party and including the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens has governed for five years. In Saxony, a tripartite led by the CDU, with Prime Minister Michael Kretzschmerand with the SPD and the Greens as minority partners.
AfD favourite to win
He rejection of immigration This question has been practically at the centre of the AfD’s discourse for many years and, after the events in Solingen, the party tried to exploit the attack for its own purposes. With slogans such as “Solingen or remigration” or “Solingen or Höcke”, referring to the party leader in Thuringia, Bjorn HockeThe far right is trying to take advantage of what happened.
But migration and terrorism were also the themes of the week for the Scholz government and the Christian Democratic opposition. The Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeserannounced a package of measures including plans to speed up expulsions and step up the fight against Islamism.
The leader of the opposition, the chairman of the conservative CDU, Frederic Merzhad proposed to Scholz to seek an agreement to take measures to restrict irregular immigration. Scholz then announced the creation of a working group bringing together representatives of the opposition and regional governments to agree on measures in this regard. A few hours later, 28 convicted Afghans were deported to Afghanistan.
Bavarian Prime Minister and Chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Markus Södercalled in an interview to be published tomorrow in the Sunday newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” to restrict the individual right to asylum. Some analysts have expressed fears that making the AfD’s key issue the main topic of debate could lead to more right-wing extremist wings. Others point out that a response to what happened was also necessary in order not to leave the issue in the hands of the AfD.
