SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 3.25.2025
Who could have imagined in that just over 10 years a fringe far right party would have such a meteoric rise to to power in Germany?
It’s an unnerving reality that the far right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) captured 152 seats in the 630 member German Bundestag. Making this party with thinly veiled neo-Nazi sympathizers and virulent anti-immigrant proponents the second largest group in the German legislature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany
The rapid ascendency of the AfD has me thinking of the Weimar Republic in Germany following World War I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic
With its 152 seats on the far right the AfD can expect to engage in fierce parliamentary battles with the two parties on the left. Die Linke (64 seats) and The Greens (85 seats).
The parties in the middle. Social Democratic Party (120 seats) and the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (208 seats) will inevitably form a coalition government. A tenuous coalition which will be buffeted from the right and left.
Excerpted from Deutsche Welle 3.25.2025
The far-right AfD has become the second-biggest party in parliament, winning around 20% of the vote in February’s election, but the other German parties have all ruled out working with them.
Even with this so-called “firewall” against the far-right party, they hold enough seats that they could prove to be a thorn in the side of any coalition government.
Lee's Perspective 