A German Shift to the Right
Sophie Ulm
Staff Writer
Germany’s elections on February 23 brought a new chancellor for the country and the largest voter turnout the country has recently seen. While Freidrich Merz and the Christian Democrats won the chancellery, they will still have to work to form a coalition with at least one other party.
The election saw voter turnout at 82.5 percent, according to DW, a significant increase from the 76.6 percent turnout in 2021. The Christian Democratic Union won 28.6 percent of the vote, the Alternative for Germany party received 20.8 percent of the vote, the Social Democrats won 16.4 percent, the Free Democratic Party won 11.6 percent, and other parties received small percentages of the remaining votes.
The Christian Democrats, previously led by Angela Merkel, have become more right-wing under Friedrich Merz’s leadership, according to The New York Times. Merz is a businessman who has pushed for more conservative stances on migration and the economy, among other issues. Despite winning the elections, The New York Times reports that only about a third of Germans believe in Merz’s ability to lead Germany as the chancellor.
Major priorities for the Christian Democrats include maintaining European stability and navigating transatlantic relationships. In the midst of uncertainty about the United States’ future involvement in Europe, and particularly in Ukraine, The Associated Press reports that Merz is taking the issue seriously, stating that an American deal with Russia “over the heads of Europe” would not be acceptable. The Christian Democrats’ relationship with the U.S. could prove a challenge, as the U.S. Vice President, JD Vance, openly supports the Alternative for Germany party. The dynamic in Ukraine is shaped by the fact that, according to The Associated Press, Germany is the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine behind the U.S.
The elections were triggered when the Free Democratic Party left the coalition headed by the former German Chancellor, Olaf Schulz, due to budget disputes, reports Al Jazeera. In order to have a majority of the 630 seat Bundestag, a coalition must reach the 316 mark, which each of the parties individually failed to do. Currently, the Christian Democratic Union only needs one other party, the Social Democrats, to form a majority coalition, if all of the right concessions are made. Merz, according to Al Jazeera, is hopeful that he will have a new government formed by April 20.
With Merz’s decision to align his party in a coalition with the Social Democrats, the two have already reached a number of agreements in order to share power, according to The Guardian. Some of the new policies that the coalition hopes to implement are more restrictive stances on immigration, including turning away all undocumented migrants at the German border, including those seeking asylum, and establishing a 15 euro-an-hour minimum wage. But the parties also have a greater goal in mind: winning back voters from the Alternative for Germany party.
The Alternative for Germany party is Germany’s far-right political party. They were not chosen to participate in a coalition with Merz’s party because of a “firewall” system established by Germany’s main political parties after World War II to not work with extremist parties, according to BBC. The party has been labeled as a far-right extremist organization by Germany’s courts and domestic intelligence, though the party maintains that it is not.
Despite the pushback from the government, the party has become more normalized to Germans in recent years, with about one in five Germans saying that it is a normal political party, reports the BBC. The Alternative for Germany party performed best in East Germany and among younger voting populations, with the party winning 21 percent of the votes of individuals between the ages of 18 and 24.
Image courtesy of Getty Images.
