| Discontent with the center-left government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is on the rise, as coalition partners remain mired in internal bickering.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is reaping the low-hanging fruit and has already surpassed the Greens, whose star is sinking. The populists are now on a par with the SPD nationwide, according to the latest polls.
The chancellor put this down to a general sentiment across Europe: At a “time of upheaval” when people are “not so sure that the future is on their side,” Scholz said Schlechte Laune Parteien (bad mood parties) “that glorify the past” are bound to get a boost, he said.
AfD co-chair Alice Weidel lashed out angrily in response, telling the German news agency dpa that voters indeed had no reason for laughter. “But that’s not because of a supposedly ill-tempered AfD, but because of the amateur acting troupe that delivers a sad political performance every day as the federal government.”
Friedrich Merz, chairman of the center-right CDU, which was in power for decades, brushed questions aside as to why disgruntled voters did not flock to his party instead: “The strength of the AfD is due to the weakness of the current government. It is not the opposition, but the government that is responsible for the mood in the country.”
The Christian Democrat CDU and its Bavarian “sister party,” the Christian Social Union CSU, have now come up with a new proposal to take the wind out of the sails of the far-right populists: A patriotism drive. They suggest more singing of the national anthem, more visibility of national symbols — especially the national flag — in public spaces and to have the military hold more public ceremonies in order to “develop the patriotic potential of the armed forces and civil society.” |
