As the results of the German election become clear, the shock is deep among nearly all of my friends. 13% for the AfD, an extreme-right-wing, populist party.
The 87% who didn’t vote for them feel this as a deep and shameful insult; it seems that 70 years has been long enough for a significant proportion of Germans to forget the lessons of the terrible history of my adopted country.
But I take hope from that shocked reaction of the great majority of Germans. The policies of the AfD are so incoherent, the personal intimate hatreds among their leaders so deep, that there are good chances that they will tear themselves apart in the next four years.
The fact that the Social Democrats – up to now the junior partners in Merkel’s coalition – have stated that they will go into opposition is also a positive development; it means that there will be a strong opposition and that the AfD will not be leading it.
Right-wing populists offer hateful, simple answers to complex problems. It is now up to the democratic parties in Germany to show them up for the charlatans that they are. In all likelihood, Merkel will lead a new coalition of Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Greens (though those negotiations will be difficult).
A particularly worrying development is that the fascistoid AfD seems to have achieved more than 20% in former East Germany.
But amid all the shock and disappointment, Germans should realise that 13% is still a small minority. The challenge for the future is to make sure that it doesn’t get larger.
NOTE to the above comment.
Those 'personal intimate hatreds' to which you refer, seem to be a common trend across many ultra right-wing groupings.
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