Germany Elections: Moving to the Far Right?

[StLucieBengal]

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/german-anti-immigration-party-celebrates-dizzying-rise-202547094.html

3 year old party Alternative for Germany makes massive gains. Anti Eurozone, Anti Immigration party surging as a response to Merkel's policies.

We have seen these parties rise in France and even to Power in Portugal and Poland. Changing the European political landscape. Even UKIP has forced a referrendum on the EU for the Brits.

Quote:MAGDEBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Supporters of Germany's new anti-immigration party erupted into raucous celebrations in this eastern city on Sunday after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into three state assemblies with scores that would have been unthinkable only a year ago.
"What an amazing evening," Andre Poggenburg, the AfD leader in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, said in a fiery speech in the state capital Magdeburg, calling the result "brilliant".
"We fought like lions for your land," he said, dismissing Angela Merkel as "the worst chancellor in the history of Germany."
Formed three years ago in opposition to euro zone bailouts, the AfD has morphed into an anti-immigration party over the past year, kicking out its founder and seizing on a record influx of migrants to lure new voters and steal disaffected members of Merkel's conservatives.
On Sunday they had their best day ever, winning a shocking 24 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, to become the second-biggest party in the state parliament.
The AfD also performed better than polls predicted in two other states, winning nearly 15 percent in the prosperous southern region of Baden-Wuerttemberg and over 12 percent in Rhineland Palatinate, a western wine-making state.
Exit polls showed that the AfD drew most of their support from people who previously hadn't voted for a party, but they also drew thousands of voters from Merkel's conservatives, particularly in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
While populist, anti-immigrant parties have thrived for years in other European countries, Germany has been an exception, in part because opposition to far-right ideologies runs deep because of the country's Nazi past.
The refugee crisis has changed all that. More than a million migrants entered Germany last year, unsettling many Germans and turning the AfD into a force on the national stage almost overnight.
"MERKEL MUST GO!"
In Magdeburg, about 250 mainly middle-aged supporters whistled, clapped and cheered as results were projected onto a large screen. In Berlin, supporters chanted "Merkel must go!"
"This is democracy. I am very, very happy," said Gerlach Holm, 67, who traveled to Magdeburg from Hamburg to celebrate with party friends. He wore a shirt that read: "My heart beats for Germany"
The AfD narrowly missed the five percent hurdle needed to enter the federal parliament in 2013 but is now represented in the state assemblies of half of Germany's 16 states.
Since outmaneuvering party founder Bernd Lucke last year to seize control of the AfD, 40-year-old chemist Frauke Petry has refocused the party on immigration, delivering fiery speeches attacking Merkel and causing an uproar by saying German police should be given a green light to shoot migrants at the border as a last resort.
"Mrs. Petry went far with those remarks but we are not against foreigners," said Holm. "We need foreigners because we have low birth rates and we are aging. But we need foreigners who integrate."
Despite its success, the party will not get a taste of power after the state elections.
All of Germany's other parties have ruled out forming coalitions with the AfD.
"I did not vote AfD because I expect them to govern," said Thorsten, a 48-year-old sales manager who declined to give his family name saying he fears his employer could fire him. "I voted AfD to protest the federal government's policies."
"I did not ask Mrs. Merkel to open Germany's borders to everybody. It is fine to let in people fleeing conflicts, but not everyone," he said as he sipped a beer with his wife.
But not everyone was happy. At a snack bar across the street, a 41-year-old German man named Nico Braun walked in and said to the Turkish owner: "Are the AfD gone or do I have to say Heil Hitler?"

[GMDino]

[Belsnickel]

Interestingly enough, this could cause more liberal parties to gain a hold in the government as AfD, seen as a new Nazi party by many, takes away from CDU. This could allow SPD to gain more ground.

[Bengalzona]

(03-13-2016, 11:04 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Interestingly enough, this could cause more liberal parties to gain a hold in the government as AfD, seen as a new Nazi party by many, takes away from CDU. This could allow SPD to gain more ground.

SPD could be VIP ASAP or PDQ while AFD and CDU are SOL?!?!?!

[Sociopathicsteelerfan]

(03-13-2016, 09:32 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: "We fought like lions for your land," he said, dismissing Angela Merkel as "the worst chancellor in the history of Germany."

Worst chancellor in German history is a hard crown to take.

[Belsnickel]

(03-14-2016, 01:59 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Worst chancellor in German history is a hard crown to take.

Well, we are talking about someone from AfD saying this.

[Rotobeast]

Amazing how polarization spreads like a disease.
Compromise is a dead practice.

[Belsnickel]

(03-14-2016, 12:58 PM)Rotobeast Wrote: Amazing how polarization spreads like a disease.
Compromise is a dead practice.

So, some of the folks I talk to from Germany have been saying they voted AfD not because they like AfD, but just to send a message to CDU. They wouldn't have voted for AfD if they thought there was any real chance they would have gained much power. As it stands now, they don't gain much at all in the way of federal government power.

[GMDino]

(03-14-2016, 01:01 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, some of the folks I talk to from Germany have been saying they voted AfD not because they like AfD, but just to send a message to CDU. They wouldn't have voted for AfD if they thought there was any real chance they would have gained much power. As it stands now, they don't gain much at all in the way of federal government power.

That's what the story on NPR made it sound like over the weekend.  That their seats came in various parts of the country (more eastern).

[Belsnickel]

(03-14-2016, 01:05 PM)GMDino Wrote: That's what the story on NPR made it sound like over the weekend.  That their seats came in various parts of the country (more eastern).

What this election did was increase their power in some of the state parliaments, and it gave them a seat at the table in the Bundestag. There are essentially two elections for the federal diet. Representatives are assigned based on local votes for their reps and then there are parties chosen for the other. It's about half and half like this, so half of the members of the Bundestag are assigned based upon their party as a whole receiving x% of the vote. The floor to be in is 5%, which AfD will now have. But, with 598 members of the Bundestag and the CDU/CSU alliance taking over 300 of those at the present, there isn't much ground gained here. Especially since the other parties already there, which are more liberal than AfD or the CDU/CSU group, are also gaining some ground.

[*bfine32*]

(03-14-2016, 12:23 AM)Bengalzona Wrote: SPD could be VIP ASAP or PDQ while AFD and CDU are SOL?!?!?!

FWIW this made me LOL

[Belsnickel]

Translation: "The effing sky is AfD blue" and the bottom means the next morning.

And yes, Scheisse literally translates to shit but it is used as a flavor word that equates to the f-bomb for us. And it's because AfD's color is sky blue.

I'm sure it isn't as funny once it's explained, but I went for it anyway.

[SunsetBengal]

Merkel's response to the sexual attacks in Germany is to teach migrants how to have sex with the native women? Don't think that the locals are going for it..

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/10176074_745729452125974_6853327641443391726_n.jpg?oh=fda53bed8a370062687636ae36c4b8cc&oe=575B3BE2

[Westwood Bengal]

(03-14-2016, 03:06 PM)Belsnickel Wrote:

Translation: "The effing sky is AfD blue" and the bottom means the next morning.

And yes, Scheisse literally translates to shit but it is used as a flavor word that equates to the f-bomb for us. And it's because AfD's color is sky blue.

I'm sure it isn't as funny once it's explained, but I went for it anyway.

I am certainly not fluent in german, bit I think that there is also a play on words here. If I say Ich bin blau, I am saying I am drunk (or wasted), which helps explain the bottom caption. This certainly impacts the message.

[Belsnickel]

(03-15-2016, 12:40 AM)Westwood Bengal Wrote: I am certainly not fluent in german, bit I think that there is also a play on words here. If I say Ich bin blau, I am saying I am drunk (or wasted), which helps explain the bottom caption. This certainly impacts the message.

Eh, none of the Germans talking about this were saying anything in regards to that. Lots of comparisons of Nazis and Hitler to the AfD, and some being obtuse and saying "the sky is sky blue, the AfD logo is sky blue..." and being mocked for it.

Edit: Thought of this on my way in to the office. The sentence structure would be different for that wordplay. "AfD-Blau" is a descriptor of the blue, like Dunkelblau, Hellblau, or Himmelblau. Saying, essentially, drunk for AfD would be worded differently. Plus the capital B denotes it is a noun.

[StLucieBengal]

(03-14-2016, 01:59 AM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Worst chancellor in German history is a hard crown to take.

Haha for sure.  

[StLucieBengal]

(03-14-2016, 01:01 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, some of the folks I talk to from Germany have been saying they voted AfD not because they like AfD, but just to send a message to CDU. They wouldn't have voted for AfD if they thought there was any real chance they would have gained much power. As it stands now, they don't gain much at all in the way of federal government power.

I have seen this some as well . But a protest vote is how these groups get into power. Heck Trump is basically a lot of people's protest vote.

The next step will be what happened in France. The other parties will fall on their own sword to elect one of them. Until the people just get fed up with the current policies.

Wonder what caused this shift in vote ......... Oh all the incidents with migrants. Germans are fed up.... And the numbers increase daily of those utilizing the protest vote.

[StLucieBengal]

Lol

[Belsnickel]

(03-15-2016, 08:07 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: I have seen this some as well . But a protest vote is how these groups get into power. Heck Trump is basically a lot of people's protest vote.

The next step will be what happened in France. The other parties will fall on their own sword to elect one of them. Until the people just get fed up with the current policies.

Wonder what caused this shift in vote ......... Oh all the incidents with migrants. Germans are fed up.... And the numbers increase daily of those utilizing the protest vote.

The problem with this is that the CDU/CSU is a center-right party. So while some Germans are shifting to the right, a lot are shifting to the left as well. Also, and this is a part of the culture that some people don't know, is that nationalism in Germany is a big social no-no these days. What we would call patriotism would get you some awkward looks from your fellow Germans. This creates a different atmosphere than in other European countries and makes it hard to compare to, say France. French people will tell you they are proud to be French. You will not get the same response from Germans for the most part. So, with the AfD playing that nationalist card it will hurt them unless we see a culture shift in the German people as a whole, which I think would be very difficult.

[Benton]

I followed the link. Funny sign, but doesn't provide much on the topic.