After a September 24th election left German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a minority party, it was clear that the German government needed to reflect the changing mentalities of the German people. Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) lost 65 seats in the Parliament to the alt-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AFD). The AFD is the first alt-right conservative thinking party to have the third most representatives in the parliament. Their main priorities are to end immigration and create a Germany for the German people. Their popularity is surely in response to Merkel’s acceptance of over 1 million refugees into the country.
The AFD are not the only ones that have threatened the stability of her party. The Social Democrats (SDP) stand close behind the CDU in terms of popularity. There are a total of six parties competing for the German vote. Merkel tried to bridge these differences and bring about accord in the German parliament by engaging in coalition talks with all opposing parties. However, as of last Monday, more than half of the opposition parties had withdrawn from the talks. In a statement made to the ARD broadcaster, Merkel claimed that she was skeptical of the idea of ruling a minority party as Chancellor and recommended that new elections take place if that occurred. Following the trend of EU instability, the German government heads into uncharted waters as the possibility of forming an entirely new government makes itself likely.
Germany is the economic backbone of Europe at a time when fights for independence are present in the Catalonia region, and Britain is seeking the path for independence from the EU entirely. It is clear that the political instability of Germany only serves to worsen this climate. Furthermore, trends of extremist conservative ideology are crossing over the world, and the party gaining traction in the German parliament brings one to question the fate of the already present migrants in Germany and refugees still seeking asylum. Anti-immigration sentiments are very present in governments at the moment, and rhetoric further condemning the peaceful resettlement of people is concerning.
Merkel has already been elected to serve a fourth term as Chancellor, so she will make the final decision. Clearly, she finds herself in a tense situation– to lead a country on behalf of a minority party is undemocratic in principle, and she will need to either reestablish and successfully go through with talks of coalition within the German government or hope to win the popular vote if she does decide to go through with a new election. Either way, the instability has already led to foreign concern and, according to the New York Times, the drop of euro currency. The world is frightened by what this political unsurety in the powerhouse of the EU means for the continent and its allies as a whole, and how it will manifest itself within the German population.
