“A debacle with announcement” – the reactions to the AfD’s victory in Thuringia “Prigozhin’s coup was a PR operation that will go down in history”

After the election of the district administrator in the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg, one thing is certain: the AfD will fill the post, Robert Stuhlmann will become the first AfD district administrator in Germany. The media’s comments were a mixture of shock and concern about future elections.

The Leipziger Volkszeitung speaks of a dam breach. The election of Stuhlmann, a companion of right-wing politician Björn Höcke, as district administrator of the 54,000-population Sonneberg district in southern Thuringia was “a debacle with an announcement”.

The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” assumes that the AfD Stuhlmann wants to “place a battering ram against the ‘established'”. His election was “a punch in the stomach” from the other parties. To recover from this, it is now important not to confuse the AfD with its constituents. These have been “all treated like dregs for far too long”.

The Chemnitz “Free Press” mainly explains the success of the AfD by one thing: “Because it seems to offer simple answers to today’s complex challenges.” This is particularly reflected in issues such as climate change and migration. “Climate change, for example, is still seen by too few people as an existential threat and the urgency of action is underestimated. Climate protection policies are then seen as state repression and loss of freedom. The situation is similar to migration,” the paper continued. “These fatal misjudgments are actually worrying behind the strengthening of the AfD.”

Commentators in the various media disagree about what the success in Sonneberg says about the upcoming election. The «Fulda newspaper» sees this as a cause for concern. “You can shake your head at the announcement that the party now wants to nominate a chancellor candidate for the first time. But the upcoming state elections in the east next year could shake up the republic for a long time.”

The question is how long the Democratic parties could refuse to cooperate if the AfD became the strongest force in the next state elections in Thuringia – as it currently stands. “There could be a spiral of crippling negotiations, minority governments and new elections, damaging democracy. And beyond that, any disregard for the will of the voters would only strengthen those you want to prevent.”

The “Southwest Press” sees the election results primarily as a warning to other parties. “The Berlin government parties would do well not to deviate so far from mainstream society with their high-flying plans – heating law, enforcement of e-mobility.” A more serious tone is now in order. “The Union should express its often justified criticism of the traffic light policy more seriously in the future. The AfD can just hit it better.”

(t-online, fho)