Things are getting worse for the German Greens. The party “collapsed from the state parliament” in Germany's Brandenburg region (around Berlin) after two poor performances in recent state elections. [emphasis, links added]
The results were so bad that two current leaders of Germany's Green Party have jointly stepped down.
The Greens received just 4% of the vote in the region, not even reaching the minimum 5% needed to win a parliamentary seat in the state election.
Over the past five years, about 70% of voters have abandoned them. In Thuringia, the entire Traffic Light coalition of three parties received only 10% of the vote.
Nette Nöstlinger says the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) “continues to rise despite efforts to stop the party” Politicoslightly confused. The agency used the filthiest names they could think of, but it didn't work:
AfD rises despite efforts to stop party
Germany's mainstream leaders have made a concerted effort to stem the rise of the Alternative for Germany, warning voters of the party's growing extremism, with some leaders even calling it a Nazi party.
We've heard it before:
State-level domestic intelligence agencies have labeled the party's local branches in Saxony and Thuringia as extremist groups aimed at undermining German democracy.
These annoying names backfire because no one listens to them anymore:
This points to a core problem that centrist parties will not easily resolve – a growing distrust of centrism and state institutions that has fueled anti-establishment fervor across large swaths of the country.
In other words, while many centrist leaders and institutions in Germany have warned against the extremism of the Alternative for Germany, many voters simply are no longer listening. In fact, this approach could backfire by alienating AfD voters.
When a TV commentator called the AfD “extremists”, the leader of Thuringia said: “Please stop insulting me… We are Thuringia's First People's Party. You don't want to classify a third of Thuringia's voters as right-wing extremists, do you? But of course, that's probably what TV pundits really want to do…
Bullying is vulnerability. When it fails, it collapses into antimatter because there's nothing left to do but be dirty.
even The Guardian Noting the crisis facing the Green Party:
In the recent election campaign, [The Greens] Often appears to be a punching bag for political parties of all stripes. The party has been widely accused of trying to “dictate” the lives of ordinary Germans – from which type of heating system to use to which car to drive – while the BSW and AfD have even compared the Greens to the communist regime of the former German Democratic Republic.
There is hope. Young voters are abandoning parties faster than any other age group:
The party also lost a larger share of young voters than any other party in recent elections. In Sunday's Brandenburg poll, for example, support among those aged 16 to 24 fell by 24 percentage points, a steeper drop than any other age group. —
Eugippius says – Something strange and unexpected is happening with the Greens – “everyone hates them”.
The crisis of the Greens and the future of the left
I've been thinking a lot about the Green Party since their disastrous defeat in the recent German elections. Something strange and unexpected is happening to them—something I couldn't have predicted even two years ago. They were bleeding support; they were on the defensive and suddenly everyone hated them. In East Germany, you could even say they were in complete collapse. The party of the future, the party of youth, the party at the forefront of progressivism, is now withering. I suspect this is not only happening in Germany. This may be happening faster here than in other countries, but the Greens are an international phenomenon and Green party politics is in trouble in many places outside the Federal Republic.
(paywall)
Green Party votes were stolen from both parties
The decline in popularity has to do with climate, heat pumps, cars, energy prices, but also immigration and war. Over the past few months, a new left-wing force has emerged out of nowhere, led by ex-communists but wanting to curb immigration:
In some ways, the biggest winner of the night was the populist left-wing coalition Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), led by a former member of the East German Communist Party. BSW finished third in both states, a remarkable result for a party that was founded only a few months ago.
The party, which blends traditional right-wing positions on immigration and other social issues, has repeatedly called for an end to German military aid to Ukraine and negotiations with Putin – a view that has broad sympathy in Germany's former communist east. — Politico
This is part of a political realignment. New forces on the left attack the Green Party as arrogant and out of touch with workers:
Is Germany's rising superstar so far of the far left or the far right?
James Angelos, PoliticoAugust 26, 2024
Sahra Wagenknecht's brand of “left-wing conservatism” is upending German politics ahead of crucial elections in the east.
Listening to German far-left icon Sahra Wagenknecht, you might be left with the impression that the greatest threat to democracy is the “lifestyle left” while shopping at a Berlin farmers market Organic kale while drinking a latte out of a reusable cup, which is understandable.
These affluent, environmentally friendly urban bohemians, she says, hold what they consider “morally impeccable” views on everything from Ukraine to climate change, and then impose those beliefs on ordinary people with harsh zeal. .
Sahra Wagenknecht's brand of “left-wing conservatism” suited East Germany well, but some of it will be widely translated. Uncontrolled immigration is a hot-button issue everywhere.
She attacked the influx of asylum seekers as a threat to the welfare state, which she said required “a degree of homogeneity to function”.
She attacks gender-bending transitions, arguing they benefit Big Pharma. All of this will resonate across political divides. Sometime last year, the leader of Thuringia's AfD was so impressed with her that he invited her to join the party in a speech.
Pure environmentally friendly green is a luxury bubble that no one can afford. Those days are over.
The photo above shows climate protests in Germany. By Mika Baumeister, Unsplash
Read more at JoNova
