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Nationally high in the survey and now also with a countable electoral success: ten years after its foundation, the right-wing populist AfD has conquered a top municipal office in Germany for the first time. Her candidate Robert Stuhlmann won the district election in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg on Sunday with 52.8 percent against his CDU competitor Jürgen Köpper, who only got 47.2 percent.
“That was just the beginning,” AfD chief Tino Chrupalla wrote on Twitter. “We convince majorities with our policy for the interests of the citizens. This is how we will bring about a positive turnaround for Germany.” The head of state of the AfD in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, said a “political flash of lightning” came from Sonneberg. You want to take this momentum into the upcoming district elections and then prepare for the state elections where you can create a “political earthquake” in the East. Next year there will be state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg.
The Central Council of Jews is deeply shocked by the electoral success of the right-wing populist AfD in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg. “To put it bluntly, not every AfD voter has a far-right attitude,” Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council, said according to the “Jewish General”. “But the party whose candidate you chose is right-wing extremist, according to the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
That so many people agree is of great concern to him, Schuster said. “This is a breach that the democratic political forces in this country cannot simply accept.”
The International Auschwitz Committee was also shocked. Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner said: “Today is a sad day for the Sonneberg district, for Germany and for democracy. A majority of voters have clearly said goodbye to democracy and consciously opted for a far-right extermination party dominated by a Nazi .”
The Central Council of Jews is deeply shocked by the electoral success of the right-wing populist AfD in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg. “To put it bluntly, not every AfD voter has a far-right attitude,” Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council, said according to the “Jewish General”. “But the party whose candidate you chose is right-wing extremist, according to the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
That so many people agree is of great concern to him, Schuster said. “This is a breach that the democratic political forces in this country cannot simply accept.”
The International Auschwitz Committee was also shocked. Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner said: “Today is a sad day for the Sonneberg district, for Germany and for democracy. A majority of voters have clearly said goodbye to democracy and consciously opted for a far-right extermination party dominated by a Nazi .”
Neither Stuhlmann (50) nor Köpper (57) attended the presentation of the election results in Sonneberg – they preferred to stay with their supporters. There was a party at the AfD, there were German flags on the tables and blue balloons hung everywhere. As a future district administrator, election winner Stuhlmann also wants to address his political opponents, he announced at the AfD election party in Sonneberg. He sees the AfD “on its way to becoming a people’s party”. The defeated Köpper described the outcome of the election as “disappointing” and spoke of a bad day for the Sonneberg district and for Thuringia.
In the district of Sonneberg it was about a district administrator in a region with few inhabitants – the district in the Thuringian Forest right on the border with Bavaria has only 57,000 inhabitants and 48,000 eligible voters. But the AfD made history on its own reading. The result shows that majorities for the systemic protest party are possible – and that in Thuringia, where the state association with its boss Höcke is classified and observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as proven right-wing extremists.
Thuringia Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) described the AfD’s electoral success as a signal of dissatisfaction. “I think we need to redefine the spirit of German unity, that we include the East Germans and not create the feeling that they are being laughed at or just talked about,” Ramelow told ZDF on Sunday evening. Green union president Ricarda Lang wrote on Twitter that the AfD is deliberately feeding fears. “She has no interest in the country doing well.”
Thuringia’s interior minister and SPD chairman Georg Maier described the election result as an “alarm signal for all democratic forces”. The secretary general of the CDU in Thuringia, Christian Herrgott, said: “The election results make it clear that we all have a task to find solutions for this kind of protest against Berlin.”
A broad alliance was not enough
The left, SPD, Greens and FDP had all drummed for the opposing candidate Köpper. Previous attempts by the AfD to occupy top municipal offices in Schwerin and Brandenburg had succeeded. But this time, even this broad alliance was not enough to stop the AfD man.
Apparently, the AfD, which used posters and personnel during the election campaign, managed to mobilize many of its supporters. Voter turnout rose from 49.1 percent in the first round to 59.6 percent.
In the first vote two weeks ago, 50-year-old Stuhlmann, currently a member of the state parliament and a lawyer, received 46.7 percent from the start. But because he missed an absolute majority, a second round against Köpper followed, who received 35.7 percent on the first ballot. Mr. Stuhlmann mainly campaigned against the traffic light coalition in Berlin on issues in which a district administrator has little say – such as energy and refugee policy.
Election victories also at the state level?
Nationally, the AfD is currently at 18 to 20 percent in surveys, in the five eastern states it achieves significantly higher values. In Thuringia, an Insa poll in April saw the AfD as the strongest party at 28 percent, ahead of the left at 22 percent. In Saxony she was also number one in April with 28 percent at Insa, ahead of the CDU with 25 percent, in Brandenburg the AfD and SPD were tied with 24 percent each.
Is this now the ramp for state-level election victory rights? It is not impossible, but also far from self-evident. The AfD was on a similar poll nationwide in 2018, but then fared slightly worse in the 2021 federal election at 10.3 percent than four years earlier. When an AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt loomed in 2021, the CDU mobilized so successfully that they were ultimately far ahead.
Nevertheless, this AfD success could be another indication that it will become increasingly difficult to find government majorities. This has been the case for years in Thuringia itself – Prime Minister Ramelow, with his red-red-green minority government, is indirectly dependent on the CDU.
Office looks like director
The AfD itself sees the election as an opportunity to prove its ability to govern – if only on a very small scale. The future district administrator Stuhlmann gets a stage in the rural and conservative district in the southernmost tip of Thuringia, for example to protest against the reception of refugees.
However, Stuhlmann does not have much creative freedom. By law, a district administrator heads the district office and carries out decisions of the district council – the office is often more like that of a director. The new district manager will have to prove he is moving what the district needs, Ramelow said. “He runs an administration.” (SDA/neo)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
