How the Nazi AfD won Saxony-Anhalt

At the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) achieved a record result of 43.8 per cent. The AfD benefited from the deep unpopularity of the federal government and, in particular, Chancellor Friedrich Merz. And it builds on the racism of the bourgeois parties.

The AfD party organisation in Saxony-Anhalt, an eastern German state, belongs to the far-right wing and maintains a wide range of ties to the open Nazi scene. With Ulrich Siegmund, the party has put forward a leading candidate who is closely connected to the fascist street movement. He was one of the participants in the secret meeting in Potsdam with Martin Sellner, where the so-called “remigration” – i.e. the deportation of many millions of people with a migrant background – was discussed. In media debates, Siegmund is sometimes described as the friendly face of the AfD, and he also makes social demands, such as free nursery places and free school meals.

Siegmund presents himself, on the one hand, as someone who champions workers, appearing alongside tradespeople and small business owners and saying that their work deserves greater recognition. He also addressed the sharply rising price of petrol – an important issue in a rural area with poor public transport.

On the other hand, Siegmund appears at a rally in Berlin and threatens that, if the AfD ever came to power, it would put political opponents to “honest work”. This is a threat of concentration camps and a deliberate allusion to historical Nazi rhetoric, which is understood as such by the Nazi scene. The AfD is extremely adept at switching between these positions.

Decline

Saxony-Anhalt is one of the poorest federal states. Wages are low. In addition, the state has experienced a decades-long decline in its social structure. Since 2000, the state has lost nearly half a million residents. By 2040, the population is expected to decline further, from about 2.12 million to 1.83 million. Especially outside the major cities of Halle and Magdeburg, this means fewer bus routes, longer commutes to schools, hospitals, and family doctors, staff shortages, closing businesses, and the real uncertainty of whether one’s own town even has a future.

Voter turnout has always been lower than the national average in recent decades but in this election, it increased significantly. The AfD managed to mobilise voters by presenting itself as the “system opposition” to the “established parties”. It thus appealed to voters who stayed at home in previous elections, full of frustration.

“Money for Germans”

The Chancellor’s CDU, by contrast, collapsed, losing almost half of its voters. Merz and the CDU have contributed to this development through their cuts to social spending and their agitation against migrants.

The AfD also gained support from many voters through racism. “Money for Germans” was their important slogan, building on media and government campaigns against migration. For example, Merz demands that 80 per cent of the 1 million Syrian immigrants should go back to Syria within the next 3 years.

The situation is dangerous, especially for migrants and muslims. Street Nazis throughout Germany will feel encouraged by the AfD’s electoral success to put their inhumane politics into practice.

Merz halves the CDU

Merz had claimed that by pandering to the AfD’s racism in terms of policy, he could “halve” the party’s support. It is now becoming clear that he has doubled its support – and halved that of the CDU. Friedrich Merz is the most unpopular chancellor. There is widespread anger among the working class over the planned pension reform and severe cuts to the healthcare system.

Another reason for the AfD’s strong result was its positioning against rearmament and warmongering. The AfD won support with its opposition to preparations for war against Russia. It presented itself as a “party of peace”.

However, when it came to concrete decisions, such as the vote on the arms factory in Sangerhausen, the AfD voted together with the other parties. But in this case, this only became public because there is a local movement opposing the decision.

Die Linke

During the election campaign, the AfD placed strong emphasis on an “East German identity” and used the slogan of the 1989 revolution, “We are the people”. In doing so, it expressed disappointment over the broken promises made by politicians both then and now.

Die Linke addressed social problems, but it did not take a sufficiently strong stand against the Merz government or the state government in Saxony-Anhalt. Its leading candidate, Eva von Angern, said she would support a CDU government to keep the AfD out. But the CDU-SPD-FDP state government, just like the CDU-SPD federal government, is one of the causes of the crisis. Such an attempt to curry favour weakened Die Linke.

In Saxony-Anhalt, Die Linke has already tolerated an SPD-led minority government. In Thuringia and Saxony, there are occasional agreements to support the respective CDU-led minority government. In Berlin, the last government in which Die Linke was involved did not implement the expropriation of the major housing corporations. It also participated in privatisations and deportations. Because of such experiences, many people do not see Die Linke as a credible anti-establishment party. In places where the Die Linke is more activist and organises resistance, it also receives more votes.

Co-operation with parties that stand for policies which have strengthened the AfD is clearly the wrong path. If no credible left-wing alternative is put forward, people are left with the AfD, which can present itself as an alternative to the established political order.

As long as there is no strong movement against the federal government’s cuts to social spending and against the racism of the government and the media – the Nazis of the AfD will be the main beneficiaries of the crisis of capitalism.

Christine Buchholz was a Die Linke MP in the Bundestag from 2009 to 2021. She is currently a member of Marx21.