AfD leader Alice Weidel is hoping that the state elections in Brandenburg in one and a half weeks will also mark a turning point in federal politics. “What we need are new elections,” Weidel said to several hundred guests at a campaign event in Forst (Lausitz). She expects the success of the elections in Saxony and Thuringia to continue.
If Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) “gets kicked out of here and the SPD loses the whole thing, then I predict that something will slip in the SPD,” said Weidel. “Then we will have new elections.” Woidke, who has been in power since 2013, has named the fight against the AfD as his most important goal. At the same time, he has linked his political future to an election victory for the SPD.
AfD ahead in polls so far
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the AfD nationwide as a suspected right-wing extremist case, and the Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution also classifies the AfD state association in this way. The AfD wants to become the strongest force in Brandenburg in the state elections on September 22nd.
The AfD is currently ahead in the polls. In the most recent RBB survey by Infratest dimap, it was at 27 percent, ahead of the SPD with 23 percent. Both parties gained four percentage points compared to the July survey, but the difference between the two parties remained the same. In the elections in Saxony and Thuringia, the AfD was over 30 percent in each case, and in Thuringia it became the strongest force.
Weidel believes border fences are the solution
Weidel was received like a star in Forst. The guests stood up and applauded for a long time. The co-party and co-parliamentary group leader scored points in southeast Brandenburg on the Polish border, especially with sharp demands against the influx of refugees. The Spree-Neiße district with the district town of Forst is an AfD stronghold.
“No one who has previously thrown away their papers is allowed to cross the German border,” she said. “These people do not belong here. They must be rigorously turned away.” Weidel stressed: “Border security is achieved through border fences, it’s as simple as that.” Border fences are part of a position paper from the Bundestag faction. She also called for the return of asylum seekers from Syria to their homeland and received much applause for this. “In Syria, the reason for war no longer exists.”
The war in Ukraine was also a topic. Weidel called for immediate peace negotiations for Ukraine and an end to arms deliveries.
AfD top candidate: “Smash” the traffic light coalition with the election
Brandenburg’s AfD parliamentary group leader and top candidate Hans-Christoph Berndt used drastic language to advocate for the state elections to influence federal politics. The elections in Saxony and Thuringia had caused cracks in the German armor. “We have the power to not only push the SPD’s gravestone away from Brandenburg,” he said. “We also have the power to smash the traffic light with these blows.”
Berndt also sharply criticized the media and announced consequences if the AfD were to govern. So far, it has not found a partner. “When we are in government at the federal and state level, we will reform the media – and then they will have to look for work.” The AfD wants to restructure the country if it takes over government and abolish the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in its current form.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240911-930-230013/2
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