First time since WW II, a far-right party won state elections in Germany. What does it mean?

CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, scripted history on Sunday by becoming the first far-right party to win a state election in post-World War II Germany. The AfD, led by hardest-right figure Björn Höcke, won in AfD’s victory in Thuringia and strong second place in Saxony, delivering a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious government.

The wins, which many consider Germany’s tilt to the right, came despite leaders, including Scholz’s center-left party leaders, trying to curb its rise. Many mainstream leaders have warned voters, citing AfD’s “growing extremism”. Some even went far as to call it a Nazi party.

Scholz did not hide his disappointment. Not only did his SPD coalition slump to fifth position in both states, but poll figures, just a year ahead of the federal elections, show that AfD could become the second-largest group in the German federal parliament, with the SDP trailing in third.

The chancellor called the results “bitter” and called on mainstream parties in Thuringia and Saxony to exclude the AfD from any state governing coalitions. “All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists,” Scholz said in a statement. “Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation.”

There were intelligence reports that the local branches of the party in both Saxony and Thuringia were extremist organisations. Höcke himself was twice found guilty by a German court of purposely employing Nazi rhetoric.