The far right is gaining ground. The president of the German conservative party of ex-chancellor Angela Merkel did not rule out cooperation at the local level with the far right on Sunday, at a time when, in Spain, such an alliance on the governmental level is considered possible.
“If a cantonal councillor, a mayor, is elected and he belongs to the Alternative for Germany [AfD, parti d’extrême droite allemand]it is natural that we have to look for ways to ensure that we continue to work together in this city,” Friedrich Merz told the ZDF television channel.
Any alliance at the national level excluded
He was reacting to recent electoral successes at the local level of the AfD, which managed to elect its first mayor under its colors, as well as to take the head of a district council, the equivalent of a French general council.
“It goes without saying that we are under an obligation to accept the result of democratic elections,” added Friedrich Merz, who has made a right turn in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since he took over the head in January 2022, after the years of centrism of Angela Merkel.
His remarks reflect a shift in the position of this historically center-right party, even if at the same time Friedrich Merz confirmed the party’s traditional line of excluding any alliance with the far right at the national level for the formation of a government or the passing of laws, in the Chamber of Deputies or in regional parliaments.
Spain, such an alliance deemed possible
His remarks come as the AfD has experienced a spectacular rise for several months in opinion polls, now pointing to second position nationally, ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and just behind the conservatives of Friedrich Merz.
The AfD is given 22% of voting intentions, a record, in an Insa poll published Sunday by the daily Bild, twice as much as a year earlier, and only four points from the Conservatives (26%).
The far right is taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of part of the public with the current government coalition, made up of social democrats, ecologists and liberals, as well as the rise in prices and even immigration.
The statements of the president of the German conservatives also came on the day of the parliamentary elections in Spain, which could lead to an alliance between the traditional right and the ultranationalist and ultraconservative party Vox.