German Chancellor told the news agency Reuters the results of the state elections were “bitter” for his , saying he was speaking in his capacity as an SPD parliamentarian not as chancellor.
“All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists,” Scholz said, in reference to the AfD. He said the party’s success on Sunday was concerning.
“Our country cannot and must not become accustomed to this,” Scholz said. “The AfD damages our country. It weakens the economy, divides society, and ruins our country’s reputation.”
Nevertheless, Scholz also tried to find the positives from a party political perspective.
“The election results of Sunday are bitter — also for us. And yet, the SPD stuck together,” he said, adding that thought the party had conducted a good and clear campaign.
“That paid off, because the bleak prognoses regarding the SPD did not come to pass,” he said.
Although it’s true that the SPD avoided losing its representation in the two eastern state parliaments altogether, as some pollsters believed to be a possibility, in both states the center-left party won less than 10% of the vote and only narrowly cleared the 5% minimum hurdle to guarantee representation.
msh/lo (AP, AFP, KNA, dpa, Reuters)
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