Early projections from the German Elections show a sharp increase in the vote for the Far-right, racist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), from 10% to about 20%. The largest party will likely be the “Tory” Christian Democratic Union (CDU), while the Social Democrats (SPD) have lost badly, possibly with the lowest vote share since 1887.
But a remarkable feature of the election is the sudden dramatic increase in the votes for Die Linke, the Left party, from 4.9% last election to 8.7% this time. Polls recently had them down to just over 3%. They seem to have won a particularly high vote amongst young people. Thousands of new members joined the party during the campaign.
The recovery of Die Linke has been partly due to their forceful response to the growth of the far-right in street mobilisations and social media, including this angry and passionate speech made on 29 January by Heidi Reichinnek, a leader of Die Linke (the Left party) in the Bundestag (German Parliament).
parties need 5% to get any MPs
She condemns the CDU/CSU, which was in opposition then, for collaborating with, the AfD and relying for their votes to try to pass their anti-immigration proposal (which, thankfully, failed to pass). This broke the traditional “firewall” rule in German politics regarding refusing to work with parties of the extreme right.
She both savages the hypocrisy of the CDU and warns the Social Democrats and the Greens not to work with the CDU, predicting it will damage them. As she says, when parties try to move towards racist parties, voters always tend to vote for the “real thing”. She openly calls for fascism to be opposed in the streets and finishes by saying “To the Barricades”
Left Horizons does not uncritically support Die Linke, but we are sharing the video of the speech from the Die Linke YouTube channel and the translation below as an example of the uncompromising approach that is necessary. [Translation – Guy C] [featured photo from Die Linke video of the Bundestag debate]
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“All political differences aside, I could never have imagined that a Christian Democratic party, yes a Christian Democratic party, would cross this line and make a pact with right wing extremists, because that is what you are doing!
And I’m telling you that you are not building these majorities with the AfD by accident. This is not a coincidence. You have sought this deliberately, together with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) [a free-market, centre Liberal party – ed]. You have sought these majorities deliberately. That is the f*****g problem and you don’t seem to be able to understand it at all.
And this, only two days, yes just two days, after we commemorated the liberation of Auschwitz here together. Just two days after we remembered those who were murdered and tortured, you are working together with people who seek to spread that exact same ideology.
– responding to the speech
[photo from Die Linke]
And your comments that I’m hearing just now say a hell of a lot about you. The cheering you are hearing show just whose hands you’re playing into, and ultimately, people will always vote for the original. Always.
And if you really position yourself at the head of the [Christian Democratic] Union and say: “all of you democrats – you all could have agreed [on this way forward)…”
Apart from, of course, the fact that the CDU never offered to work together with us. Not us, no. They seem to have no problem drinking beer with right wing extremists, but to do so with those who want human rights for all is a line they clearly do not want to cross!
Racist and unlawful
Apart from the fact that there was never an offer of talks (with the CDU), what you’re really saying in all of this is that you are going to move forward with a racist and unlawful proposal and if we don’t all agree with what you are proposing then you’ll have no choice but to work with the right wing extremists.
What kind of pathetic proposition is that?
So I’m saying to you – you’re making yourselves a stepping stone for the right wing extremists to get into power. And you’ve changed this country for the worse in doing so.
I’ll repeat what I said in my speech. Regardless of how hard you try, we are the “firewall” in this country and we’ll all take to the streets and go to the polls and I promise you that we will ensure that all of this is brought to an end.
And I’ll say this to the Social Democratic Party [SPD] and the Greens [die Gruenen]: “Rule out a coalition with this CDU! It will only damage you!”
And to the people out there I say this: “Don’t give up, fight back, resist fascism in this country.“
“To the barricades!“
