German election sees rise of the far right

Die Linke fights the far right

Left Unity Principal Speaker Joseph Healy said: ‘The elections in Germany have provided another jolt to the body politic in Europe.

It was widely expected that Angela Merkel and the CDU would be returned to power but the appearance of a Far Right neo-Nazi party for the first time since 1945 in the German Bundestag is a profound shock for all Germans and for anyone fighting Fascism in Europe. Brecht warned in 1945 prophetically about the possible return of Fascism when he wrote: “The Beast is dead but the Whore that bore him still lives.”

At a time when across Europe the forces of nationalism, Fascism and xenophobia are on the march, the results in Germany are a wake up call for the Left in Europe. Once again areas left behind by globalisation and economic progress, in this case, Eastern Germany, have voted for a racist and xenophobic party peddling a simplistic message of hate and division. Merkel and the CDU have created a huge economic division in Germany between the classes and had to be forced by the SPD to introduce a minimum wage. Despite its reputation for wealth and succcess many Germans (as in the UK) are working for low wages while German big business booms.

The result for the SPD, achieving its lowest share of the vote since 1933 is another sign of the death knell for Social Democracy in Europe. Signing up to the austerity measures and conservative decisions of the Grand Coalition was its death sentence. No wonder the SPD will not now enter a second coalition. Left Unity will work with its sister party, Die Linke, in opposing all attempts to move Germany to a racist, xenophobic and anti-refugee position following this election and the inevitable calls for this from those on the right of the CDU, pushed by the Far Right.
I will be going to Berlin this weekend to participate in the Executive Board meeting of the European Left Party where we will start the process of a fightback against this pull towards returning the darkest periods of German and European history.’