AfD faces first election since revelations about mass deportation meeting
The far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party has been narrowly beaten in its first electoral test since revelations came to light of its involvement in a plan for the mass deportation of foreigners that has sparked huge protests across Germany. Its candidate lost against a conservative rival in a district administrative election the importance of which resonated far beyond the local area.
In a tight second-round runoff in the district of Saale-Orla in the south-eastern state of Thuringia, the AfD candidate, Uwe Thrum, had victory snatched from him by his Christian Democrat (CDU) rival Christian Herrgott by 4.6 percentage points.
The vote, in which about 66,000 people were eligible to cast their ballot, was seen as a gauge as to whether the mobilisation of civil society against the anti-immigrant AfD since the recent revelations about the deportation plan had dented or bolstered the party’s popularity.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland party has been narrowly beaten in its first electoral test since revelations came to light of its involvement in a plan for the mass deportation of foreigners that has sparked huge protests across Germany.
The vote, in which about 66,000 people were eligible to cast their ballot, was seen as a gauge as to whether the mobilisation of civil society against the anti-immigrant AfD since the recent revelations about the deportation plan had dented or bolstered the party’s popularity.
A cross-party mobilisation of voters in the past fortnight in an attempt to keep the AfD out of power resulted in a higher turnout of 69%, enabling Herrgott, who has local roots, to make the gains necessary to defeat his rival.
The vote is being viewed as the prelude to a “super” election year for a state governed by a fragile alliance under Bodo Ramelow of his far-left Die Linke, the Social Democrats and the Greens.
This month, investigative journalists revealed that high-ranking members of the AfD had discussed plans for the mass expulsion of foreigners and unassimilated citizens from Germany in the event of the party securing power.
Thrum, 49, a qualified carpenter, is viewed as a close disciple of Höcke’s and more radical than Sesselmann, who openly rubs shoulders with rightwing extremist groups including the Reichsbürger movement.
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