German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has once again taken it on the chin as his Christian Democratic Union party was trounced in two state elections over the weekend. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD was the largest single vote getter, and the CDU got only 5% of the votes.
Despite that achievement and support from voters, AfD will be unable to govern because all other political parties refuse to form a coalition with it.
Germany has a multi-party system with dozens of registered political parties, but only a few major ones hold seats in the federal parliament or play a primary role in government. Regardless of their political leanings, which stretch from conservative to socialist, all of them claim the AfD is a threat to the democratic constitutional order.
Despite that widespread condemnation, Washington Times columnist Robert Knight says AfD has grown because previous German leaders, like former Chancellor Angela Merkel, allowed a flood of Islamic migrants into the country.
"Transforming Germany into a multicultural society, with a growing Islamic presence, has become more and more of a threat," Knight tells AFN. "The Germans seem to have had it, and the AfD also is promoting the natural family, marriage, family values, against the tide of liberalism that has pushed same-sex marriage and the whole LGBTQ agenda."
In the German parliament, the Bundestag, the CDU currently holds 33% of the seats, and the AfD is second with 24% of the seats. In third place is the Social Democratic Party, which currently holds 19% of seats in the Bundestag.
Knight advises many Americans may find one AfD stance troubling.
"They want to resume cheap energy from Russia while Russia is pounding Ukraine," the columnist points out. "To me, that's short-sighted. Russia is still a threat to Europe, obviously, especially if you live in Ukraine, so that might be where Americans hesitate to support the AfD."
But on other issues like immigration and traditional family values, Knight thinks "a lot of Americans would find they have a lot in common with them."
