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AfD wins mayoral election in Saxony-Anhalt
AfD member of parliament Hannes Loth becomes mayor in the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz. photo
© Sebastian Willnow/dpa
The new mayor of the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz emphasizes that his election campaign was only about municipal issues. Nevertheless, his success could fuel the debate about the AfD soaring.
Against the background of their nationwide survey high, the AfD once again won a municipal election in East Germany. The AfD candidate Anhalt-Bitterfeld yesterday won the mayoral election in the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz in Saxony-Anhalt – just a week after an AfD district administrator was elected for the first time in Sonneberg, Thuringia.
While state politicians from the Left and Greens in Saxony-Anhalt reacted with concern, AfD state leader Martin Reichardt was happy about a “signal that we can continue the nationwide upward trend (…), especially here in central and eastern Germany”.
Suspected case in the field of right-wing extremism
Just a week ago, Robert Stuhlmann became the first AfD candidate in Germany to win a district election in Sonneberg, southern Thuringia. This caused a stir internationally and fueled the debate about the AfD’s soaring high. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the party nationwide as a suspected case in the area of right-wing extremism. In Germany-wide surveys, the AfD ranks at around 20 percent.
After the run-off election in Raguhn-Jeßnitz, a town with 8,800 inhabitants, the left-wing state chairmen Janina Böttger and Hendrik Lange said: “It is worrying that representatives of far-right AfD state associations are now succeeding in holding top municipal offices.” The Greens state chairman Dennis Helmich described the result as “massively disappointing”.
The CDU district administrator of the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district, in which Raguhn-Jeßnitz is located, warned of further successes for the AfD. “If the policy that the traffic light government is currently implementing remains the same, it will not have been the last mayor and district administrator of the AfD,” said Andy Grabner of the German Press Agency. Not only in East Germany, but also nationwide, this could be the political direction in the future, he warned. “This is not a Saxony-Anhalt phenomenon.” Loth’s voters are by no means all right-wing extremists. “There are normal people from next door – like you and me.”
“Things are slipping in this country”
AfD member of parliament Loth prevailed in the runoff with 51.13 percent against non-party candidate Nils Naumann. The 42-year-old was elected the first full-time AfD mayor in Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD even spoke on Twitter of the first AfD mayor in Germany – with a mayor in Burladingen in Baden-Württemberg until 2020 who had switched to the AfD.
Loth emphasized in the evening that his election campaign was based purely on municipal issues – it was about strengthening the fire brigade, daycare centers and more citizen participation. He doesn’t know whether the choice of Stuhlmann helped him. He is also available for those who would not have voted for him.
In view of the AfD’s high flight, Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer warned of increasing polarization in Germany. “Something is slipping in this country,” said the CDU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. People are disturbed by how politics is done in Germany. “We are on the way to polarization, as we know it from America. Last week’s debate did not show that everyone understood that.”
Even in the elections in Sonneberg, German issues played a particularly important role. “Energy transition, heating law, refugee policy and the Russia embargo have brought victory to the AfD,” says Kretschmer. “These issues threaten to tear society apart.” Politicians resort to “blame and dissociation instead of dealing with unpleasant truths”, which is not responsible. “Now it has to be a matter of fact.”