the far right fails in a local election after massive protests against its program

Hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating for several days against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, after the revelation of discussions relating to a plan for mass expulsion of foreigners and “unassimilated citizens”.

However, he was the favorite in this test election. The German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party suffered an electoral setback by failing to win a second cantonal presidency, after large-scale demonstrations against its program on Sunday January 28.

AfD candidate Uwe Thrume received 47.6% of the vote in the second round of voting in local elections in the Saale-Orla district in the east German region of Thuringia. His conservative rival, Christian Herrgott (CDU), took advantage of a strong carryover of votes to finish at 52.4%.

The defeat of the AfD has been achieved “thanks to the mobilization of civil society”, estimated the number two in the Thuringia region, the social democrat Georg Maier. Large-scale demonstrations have been taking place for around two weeks against this anti-migrant and anti-system party: more than 800,000 people took to the streets throughout the weekend, particularly in Hamburg and Düsseldorf, the organizers announced on Sunday.

“The evil genie is out of the bottle”

This mobilization of civil society was triggered by press revelations which created an earthquake in Germany: members of the AfD discussed at the end of last year a plan for the mass expulsion of foreigners from the country and of “non-assimilated citizens”. A poll by the Insa institute carried out in the wake of the first demonstrations reported a decline in voting intentions for the AfD to 21.5% compared to 23% previously.

Still, the AfD remains the second most popular party in Germany in the polls behind the conservative opposition to Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “We must face the facts: the evil genie is out of the bottle”deplored this week, in the daily Die Zeit, Olaf Scholz, who until now had rather sought to minimize the growth of the party.

In this context, more and more voices are calling for cutting public funds to the AfD, especially as the party is in the crosshairs of the intelligence services. Its regional branches in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt were placed under surveillance because of their positions considered very radical.