So, Austerity Has Led to a Right Victory in Germany?

Yeah, it did that in 1933 as well.

And now it has happened in 2024, where the fascist AfD came in first in state elections in Thuringia, and a close second in Saxony.

Leaders of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland have demanded that their party be included in coalition negotiations in two states where it won nearly a third of the vote in elections on Sunday, in results that have scrambled the political landscape a year before a general election.

Although the political earthquake from the elections in eastern Germany had been long foreseen, the centrist governing parties proved incapable of stopping the rise of the AfD, which came first in Thuringia state with nearly 33% of the vote and a close second in Saxony with almost 31%.

The three parties in the chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular government each scored in the single-digit percentage points in a stinging rebuke from voters, leaving another of the EU’s main powers, along with France, politically chastened and hamstrung.

………

The AfD chapters in Saxony and Thuringia have been designated as “rightwing extremist” by the security authorities. Sunday’s result in Thuringia marked the first time since the Nazi period that a far-right party has claimed the top spot in a state election, raising questions about how long the democratic parties can keep it out of power by refusing any cooperation.

One interesting thing is that the new leftist BSW party scored impressive numbers, coming in third place in both states, and support for Die Linke, which has moved in an establishment direction over the past few years, collapsed.

………

The night’s other big winner was the new leftwing-conservative populist party the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), named after its founder who broke off from the far-left Linke party last year, leaving it in tatters.

The BSW, which calls for higher taxes on top earners, curbs on immigration and an end to military assistance for Ukraine, scored nearly 16% in Thuringia and almost 12% in Saxony.

So, yes, everything is going to hell in a hand basket.