German Election polls

Arazi · 24 Sep 2017 at 17:02

Merkel expected to be still in power, but looking like a right wing party is going to be in joint power also, the AFD.

Updates coming in now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-41367497

If the AfD who only formed in 2013 can become the 3rd biggest in their parliament then I am sure Nigel will be thinking he can be the PM here

KNiVES · 24 Sep 2017 at 17:34

Chickens coming home to roost for Merkel, her policy of allowing copious amounts of refugees in has killed her popularity and propelled the AfD to third largest party and official opposition. Even a child would have seen this coming.

You can definitely expect a more hardline stance towards immigration moving forward in Germany, since it has been demonstrated that being otherwise is a guaranteed vote-loser.

Mr Jack · 24 Sep 2017 at 18:39

Arazi said:
Merkel expected to be still in power, but looking like a right wing party is going to be in joint power also, the AFD.

No, the AfD are not going to be in power. It looks like it will be cdu-fdp-green. The AfD will have seats for the first time.

Mr Jack · 24 Sep 2017 at 18:40

KNiVES said:
Chickens coming home to roost for Merkel, her policy of allowing copious amounts of refugees in has killed her popularity and propelled the AfD to third largest party and official opposition. Even a child would have seen this coming.

You can definitely expect a more hardline stance towards immigration moving forward in Germany, since it has been demonstrated that being otherwise is a guaranteed vote-loser.

The sdp are official opposition.

malachi · 24 Sep 2017 at 18:44

KNiVES said:
Chickens coming home to roost for Merkel, her policy of allowing copious amounts of refugees in has killed her popularity and propelled the AfD to third largest party and official opposition. Even a child would have seen this coming.

You can definitely expect a more hardline stance towards immigration moving forward in Germany, since it has been demonstrated that being otherwise is a guaranteed vote-loser.

Its the older generation who are finding it hard to accept immigration, the younger generation are not and they are the future of the their country. AfD maybe climbing but the voters will be dying out.

Arazi · 24 Sep 2017 at 18:55

Mr Jack said:
No, the AfD are not going to be in power. It looks like it will be cdu-fdp-green. The AfD will have seats for the first time.

Fair enough, not in power, but, if the reasons the AfD have gained this amount are not addressed then next time round the AfD will be even stronger, possibly in power, it seems very stupid to try to ignore the AfD party, which is the course they seem to be on.

0 seats to ~90 seats.

Burnsy2023 · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:00

Mr Jack said:
No, the AfD are not going to be in power. It looks like it will be cdu-fdp-green. The AfD will have seats for the first time.

Indeed the CDU has categorically ruled out a coalition with the AfD.

Arazi · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:04

Burnsy2023 said:
Indeed the CDU has categorically ruled out a coalition with the AfD.

Is ignoring them a good road to go down?

Raymond Lin · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:08

Arazi said:
Is ignoring them a good road to go down?

The last time Germany worked with a party like that in government it resulted in your ancestors fighting them back on the beaches of Normandy.

Arazi · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:10

Raymond Lin said:
The last time Germany worked with a party like that in government it resulted in your ancestors fighting them back on the beaches of Normandy.

I know that, it has nothing to do with now though, so ignore them then, it is an easy question, yes or no?

Raymond Lin · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:19

Arazi said:
I know that, it has nothing to do with now though, so ignore them then, it is an easy question, yes or no?

Well, if you answer me why it's better to work with them would be useful and for the record, no, not unless it's a last resort.

You know, we study history so that we don't repeat our mistakes, doing the same thing again and expecting a different result is stupid, I'm sure you've heard of that saying before.

LOAM · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:26

I would ignore them yes.

dowie · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:42

Raymond Lin said:
The last time Germany worked with a party like that in government it resulted in your ancestors fighting them back on the beaches of Normandy.

I'm not sure they want to gas the jews or invade Poland, they do appear to be anti immigration but lets not get carried away here.

Telecaster · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:44

Arazi said:
Is ignoring them a good road to go down?

Yes.

Raymond Lin · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:44

dowie said:
I'm not sure they want to gas the jews or invade Poland, they do appear to be anti immigration but lets not get carried away here.

Who knew Hitler wanted to do all that back in 1933?

Uther · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:45

LOAM said:
I would ignore them yes.

''Exit polls say the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party have won more than 13% of the vote, making them the third most popular party in Germany.''

Merkel would be foolish to ignore them. It's a dramatic result for a far right party to have such support in a country like Germany with their history IMO. Then again, look what happened when the Conservatives started getting worried about UKIP, and look where we are now...

RaohNS · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:47

Raymond Lin said:
The last time Germany worked with a party like that in government it resulted in your ancestors fighting them back on the beaches of Normandy.

That is a huge stretch to compare them to the Nazi party. Ever think that maybe, just maybe the 2m migrants entering the German area and causing untold damage/crime/rape not to mention highly common terror attacks has a big part to play?

It seems to me people blaming the AfD for umpteen things are the same type of myopic hair brained type who cannot see the AfD are not the problem. The AfD never were a problem until the above happened.

I love the term far right now applied to everyone right of Lenin/Marx. It must be a weird world view indeed.

To be clear: If you oppose migration it doesn't make you far right. In the same way if you oppose/disagree with a certain 5 letter word does not make you far right.

stewski · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:47

Haven't the AfD got around 4% more than the greens, around the same percentage as UKip in the UK at its height and within the context of Germany's traditional multi party system, come out as pretty much without any power?

Not to downplay the issue but as with Macron this looks like a triumph for less extreme positions, compared to say the USA.

LOAM · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:53

Uther said:
''Exit polls say the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party have won more than 13% of the vote, making them the third most popular party in Germany.''

Merkel would be foolish to ignore them. It's a dramatic result for a far right party to have such support in a country like Germany with their history IMO. Then again, look what happened when the Conservatives started getting worried about UKIP, and look where we are now...

Your last paragraph is my reasoning, to acknowledge them just gives them relevance when they have none. In time the grey vote that gave them their blip of "popularity" will die off and the younger generation won't go there in anywhere near the numbers.

To an extent it's happening already in the UK with the conservative party, the average age of their voters is 72 iirc.

dowie · 24 Sep 2017 at 19:54

Raymond Lin said:
Who knew Hitler wanted to do all that back in 1933?

Depends what you mean - his Antisemitism and desire for Lebensraum were laid out in his 1925 book Mein Kampf. His behaviour in the years after election made clear that there was a threat to Poland and worried Churchill. The eventual horrors of the holocaust weren't predicted or known about until later.

Regardless of 'who knew' there isn't much basis for comparison between this party and the Nazis. They're just a minority right wing party like most countries in Europe have.