The German Green Seniors from all parts of Germany supported the election campaign in the eastern German federal states and spoke to many people in Wismar, Halle and Schwerin. In Saxony-Anhalt lead candidate Suse Sziborra-Seidlitz and the Green Party’s federal chairman, Felix Banaszak kicked off the final sprint campaign at the Green Party office: in the last 100 hours before the state election all were canvassing door-to-door. The target: 100,000 conversations by 6 September. And so did the Green Seniors: of course, not all the conversations were pleasant, but many people were also delighted to see them at their door! And as Green Seniors, it was easy for us to have a direct line of communication with other seniors.
The election took place on 6 September – and the Greens were delighted to see an increase of almost 3 per cent. However, this joy was greatly dampened by the overall result. The far-right AfD secured almost 44 per cent of the vote, more than had been predicted. And the small BSW (Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance) party has also entered parliament and is open to substantive cooperation with the AfD. The conservative CDU (Christian Democrats) wanted to halve the AfD’s support in Germany – and instead halved their own.
Okay, Saxony-Anhalt currently has a population of around 2.1 million, roughly the same as the city of Hamburg. But the forecasts are also high in other federal states. It is currently the strongest party in Germany.
We Greens have always said: pandering to right-wing parties and, in some cases, adopting their right-wing rhetoric achieves absolutely nothing. When in doubt, people vote for the original.The trouble is, many people who voted for the AfD – for example, those who had never voted before – didn’t vote for what they wanted in terms of policy, but rather for a feeling. To finally belong. To feel welcome and valued and being included.
That’s how it was in the US, and that’s how it is in Saxony-Anhalt, and it will continue if we can’t do something about it. And these aren’t arguments. It’s the feeling of not being left behind. Of not being the losers, not the idiots who don’t know anything anyway. The AfD reinforces these negative feelings and plays on them time and time again on social media.
Lets work on excellent plans to stop this development!
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