I’m guest-blogging over at the Disclaimer Magazine We live under the impression that the extreme right in Germany is weak. While it is less visible than equivalents in France or the Netherlands, there is a rich undercurrent of rightist dissent that could rise to the surface to enter the mainstream of German politics. More ……
Not yet, but they are working on it. What’s The Matter with the AfD? In my research paper on the AfD party’s 2014 EP manifesto, I argue that the AfD will have to face a choice between their current mix of social conservatism/economic liberalism on the one hand and right-wing populism proper on the other.…
For an hour or so, even the international press was mildly excited – “resignation of one of Merkel’s senior Christian Democrats from government over Greek bailout” or something along those lines. They got it wrong. Gauweiler is a member of the CSU (not Merkel’s party), and he held no government office. He had a long…
Various media report this morning that the AfD caucus in the Thuringia state parliament has asked two of their MPs – Jens Krumpe and Oskar Helmerich – to resign their select committee memberships and/or has withdrawn the whip from them. Both had refused to sign the “Erfurt Resolution” that was initiated by their leader Björn…
Banning the NPD – What is at Stake? Germany’s NPD may be a racist, if not neo-Nazi outfit, but it enjoys the full protection and privileges the German constitution grants to parties. While the party is legal, it is entitled to state funding proportional to its (puny) electoral results. It can only be banned if…
This is a round-up on the current infighting within Germany’s new right-wing party, the AfD. Terms and Conditions apply.
“Der Flügel” (the “wing” or “tendency”) within Germany’s AfD that drew up the Erfurt manifesto, which calls for a more radical rightist approach to politics, claims that more than 700 people have signed the declaration within the first 24 hours. Taking a leaf out of the social-media savvy main party’s book, they have created a…
In a recent research paper, I conclude that judging by their EP 2014 manifesto, the ‘Alternative for Germany’ is currently not a right-wing populist party. But I also argue that some members of the party elite “represent less savoury brands of right-wing politics that could ultimately prove more attractive to voters than Lucke’s polite exercises…
Meet one reviewer from hell. Or perhaps not
Update: 542 in favour, 32 voting against, 13 abstentions. Nays & abstentions all from CDU, CSU, Left, apparently. See you in June. In about an hour, Germany’s parliament will have a debate on the extension of the bailout program for Greece that is scheduled to take all of a cool 90 minutes. It will be…