2023-10-10 19:02:12
MONDE – “Sanction for the government”, “hard blow”, “disastrous”… It is in these terms that the German press announced the crushing defeat of the government coalition of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Sunday October 8, 2023, during the regional elections in the states of Bavaria and Hesse. The Social Democrats (SPD), led by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the Greens and the liberal FDP were overtaken by the conservatives in these two states, where the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) ), hostile to the European Union, could position itself in second place. Did the Germans speak out against the ideas of Davos and its 2030 Agenda?
The Christian conservatives won the vote hands down in Bavaria, the richest German state, as well as in Hesse, whose capital is Frankfurt, where the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) is located. These two states alone account for a quarter of the country’s voters.
A “signal” to the Scholz coalition
The Minister-President of Bavaria, Markus Söder, came out on top with 36.7% of the vote, the lowest in more than 70 years for the Christian Social Union (CSU) party. The conservatives are far ahead of the AfD, which has 15.8% of the vote, neck and neck with the Greens (15.6%). The German Chancellor’s SPD fell further, reaching 8.5%, behind the Free Voters (14%), a very conservative formation with which Markus Söder plans to renew his coalition.
In Hesse, the Social Democrats do worse since they rank fourth with only 15.2% of the vote, leaving the field open to the Alternative for Germany (16.8%) and the Greens (15 .5%). The conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union, led in this state by a certain Boris Rhein, also performed well and achieved a rate of 34.7% after the elections, up compared to 2018 (27%).
While there is no doubt that the CSU will emerge victorious from these regional elections according to initial estimates, the final results are awaited to see whether the AfD remains in second place in Bavaria. “We are on the right path”reacted the co-leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel, according to whom the results are “a punishment” for the government and “a vote for change”. “We are the party of workers, the party of families. The elections in Hesse and Bavaria have clearly demonstrated this”she added Monday October 9, 2023 during a press conference.
For the SPD, this defeat is a “signal to the three parties” of the coalition in power, which must encourage them “to be settled more quickly” the problems of the Germans. Nancy Faeser believes in this regard that “this result is very disappointing”. “We will have to draw the consequences of this vote”, for his part declared the general secretary of the SPD, Kevin Kühnert. An opinion shared by the daily The mirror : “The loss of support is so obvious”.
The Greens expressed their satisfaction despite a setback in both states. “We have demonstrated that we are well anchored in both Länder”, deduces Ricarda Lang, co-president of the Greens. As for the winners, their leader Markus Söder praised the Bavarians’ choice for “stability”.
The 2030 Agenda under threat?
Elected in 2021 by the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a regular at the Davos Forum (World Economic Forum, WEF) and the informal and private Bilderberg meetings, which take place each year behind closed doors, has still not Express. One of the main supporters of the 2030 agenda of the WEF and the United Nations, aiming to achieve “achieve 17 sustainable development goals”found himself politically weakened and unpopular in the mid-term.
The breakthrough of the Alternative for Germany in these two states is all the more shocking in the eyes of the local press as Bavaria and Hesse have usually embodied a prosperous Germany. We can no longer say that the AfD is a party exclusively strong in the east of the country.
Created in 2013 during the European financial crisis by conservatives hostile to the euro zone and dissatisfied with the policies of the former chancellor, Angela Merkel, the AfD succeeded in gaining access to the European Parliament and then to the Bundestag (German parliament, Editor’s note) in a few years.
Opposed to immigration as well as European climate measures, the political group saw its youth organization classified in April 2023 as “extremist” by the intelligence services and placed under “close monitoring”. Despite its presence in the German parliament and its breakthrough in Bavaria and Hesse, the AfD is still not expected to be represented in the government. The coalition led by Olaf Scholz and the Christian Democrats plan to unite to reduce the influence of this right-wing party. “The AfD is a pan-German popular party. Keeping us away from government accountability won’t work in the long run”warns his boss.
This election obviously aroused concern in the European Union, already shaken by the victory in Slovakia of the Smer-SD party around ten days ago. The founder and current leader of this party, Robert Fico, returns to the post of Prime Minister, after having committed, during his campaigns, to putting an end to his country’s military support for Ukraine.
Austria could become the next country in the European Union to have a right-wing government. What will happen to the EU if one of its main leaders in turn adopts a right-wing government, which is also hostile to its measures? Should the United Nations and Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum be worried too?
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