But is the lack of polarisation in the centre really to blame for the rise of the AfD? This implies that centre-right voters opted for a far-right party (the AfD), while the centre-left voters opted for a far-left alternative ( die Linke). “For us, the grand coalition ends today,” party leader Schulz proclaimed in the immediate aftermath. Hence the decision by the Social Democratic leadership to go into opposition seems the only sensible response to the election defeat. In a joint government, the centre-right and centre-left become increasingly indistinguishable, creating a political vacuum on the margins for insurgent parties to fill, fragmenting the party landscape as a whole. Beyond the sensationalist rhetoric, however, how can we explain the shift in political allegiances in Germany? The diagnosis by the German media and centrist politiciansĪfter the initial shock, the conclusion drawn by both domestic commentators and politicians was straightforward: parties on the extremes of the political spectrum are likely to benefit from grand coalitions. The national and international media were quick to respond, calling these elections a ‘caesura’ for German politics, an ‘earthquake’ for the national party landscape and a ‘shock’ for the government, significantly hampering Merkel’s ability to respond to Macron’s ambitious integration plans for the EU. Now, with the AfD voted into parliament, Germany is no longer an outlier among its European neighbours. Particularly Merkel’s refugee policy gave anti-Islam protest movements like PEGIDA a large following. The lack of a large far-right party, however, did not mean that there was no nationalistic, anti-establishment sentiment among the German population. While the Front National in France, the PVV in the Netherlands and the FPÖ in Austria all surged in the polls and, in the case of the latter, even participated in government, right-wing populism was kept on the political fringes in the German party landscape. Until recently, Germany was considered one of the few bastions of mainstream, centrist parties left in Europe. While the pollsters had not been far off, the huge loses of the ruling parties, as well as the big gains for the national conservative AfD, came as a shock to many. On Sunday, 24 th September, Germans were called to the voting booths to elect the next federal parliament, the 19th Bundestag.
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