Weeks ahead of and in the wake of two contentious parliamentary votes, tens of thousands of citizens hit the streets across the country to voice concern over the rise of the party and anger at chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for opening the door for them.
Demonstrations drew massive crowds in Aachen, Augsburg, Braunschweig, Bremen, Cologne, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Würzburg and a number of smaller cities.
Demonstrations are planned for tomorrow as well, with the largest expected to be in Berlin.
Merz and CDU targeted for tearing down extremist ‘firewall’
Most demonstrations were aimed at chancellor candidate Merz, who presented two anti-immigration bills in the this week, both of which garnered support from the business-focused the left-wing populist — and most notably, from the far-right AfD.
The AfD is classified as a “suspected” far-right extremist organization
On Wednesday, a non-binding motion was passed by all three parties. A proposed “Immigration Influx Law,” which would have been legally binding, was when some members of the CDU abstained from voting and others voted against it with the Social Democrats and the Greens.
Merz’s insistence on pushing for the votes in the knowledge that he would need AfD support to pass them was harshly criticized as a breach of a post-war German taboo.
The refusal to work or collaborate with far-right parties in German politics is known as the
Merz’s willingness to ignore this consensus has led to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) saying that the “firewall” has fallen.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, also in the SPD, said Merz’s decisions this week “shamed the conservative CDU/CSU alliance and damaged democracy as a whole”
Since the end of World War II, all of the country’s established parties have refrained from working with extremist parties as a result of the lessons learned after the used democratic means to ascend to power and establish a totalitarian system of government that cast the world into chaos and destroyed the country.
Demonstrators call on Merz to reconsider with calls of ‘Fritz listen to Mutti!’
Demonstrators focused on the upcoming election, which Merz and the CDU/CSU look likely to win. Merz’s predecessor as party chair, former Chancellor Angela Merkel — who opened the door to a mass influx of Syrian and Afghan immigrants during her 16 years in office — also featured prominently at Saturday’s protests.
Merkel, who is known for her discretion, took the rare step of , condemning cooperation with AfD.
In Cologne, protesters held placards reading “Fritz listen to Mutti!” using nicknames for both Merz and Merkel, who was often characterized as the mother of the nation during her time in office.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach had taken part in the demonstration in front of the famous Cologne Cathedral.
AfD and supporters face resistance from demonstrators
In some cities, such as Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt (9,000 participants), as well as in Göttingen (5,000) and Hildesheim (8,000), the CDU was not the primary target of demonstrators ire but the AfD itself.
Near Frankfurt, demonstrators protested an AfD campaign event and clashed with police as well as attempting to set police vehicles ablaze.
Another target was the so-called “Querdenker” (lateral thinkers) scene, which had called for its own Saturday demonstrations under the motto, “Policies against the people?”
Querdenker are a loose collection of malcontented citizens who regularly march in opposition to the government, vaccines, the media, immigration and other issues. The Querdenker movement originally sprang up to resist restrictions.
They are active on social media and regularly accused of spreading and adhering to conspiracy and antisemitic theories. Some organizations allied with the scene are groups like the right-wing extremist “Free Saxony” party.
In Göttingen as elsewhere, counter-demonstrations to scheduled Querdenker speeches, a march and an automobile convoy, were mobilized by the so-called “Alliance against the Right,” consisting of church, union and civil society groups.
Police reported several clashes between opposing groups. Eyewitnesses also reported that police used truncheons when removing counter-protesters blocking the route of the Querdenker procession.
Police reported that officers were attacked with fireworks, bottles and eggs. Mounted police were ultimately called in to quell the situation.
Bavarian leader of CDU sister party backs Merz’s decision
Although demonstrators on Saturday were angry at Merz’s tactics, he also received backing for his gambit from a prominent German leader.
, who leads the , the Bavarian sister party to Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), voiced public support for this week’s parliamentary votes, calling the decision to move them forward “key.”
“He has chosen this path as the CDU’s candidate for chancellor and thus shown that he is serious about turning around asylum policy,” said Söder, who is also Bavaria’s state premier.
js/wd (dpa, EPD)
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