While Germany celebrated the 75th anniversary of their parliamentary democracy, the atmosphere was not entirely festive. The sentiment echoed the inaugural Bundestag sitting in Bonn on the 7th of September, 1949, which took place four years post the fall of Nazi Germany.
Paul Löbe, a seasoned parliamentary president and a survivor of Nazi imprisonment, inaugurated the session. The Social Democratic politician envisioned a future where the new parliament would fossilize a balanced government, a thriving economy, a rejuvenated social order within a safe personal life and steer the nation toward renewed prosperity.
However, the recent victory of the far-right in Thuringia, an eastern state – the first of its kind post the Nazi era, might have raised questions on Löbe’s vision.
Germany’s leadership is grappling to provide a balanced government, a thriving economy and a safe social order. The extreme right Alternative for Germany (AfD) had a strong showing in Saxony and is expected to repeat this performance in Brandenburg, which is neighboring Berlin in a fortnight.
Rather than introspect, many German politicians’ response to the rise of AfD seems to echo Bertolt Brecht’s quote, suggesting that the people betrayed the government’s trust and whether the government should replace them.
Interestingly, it appeared to go unnoticed that while West Germany’s Bundestag reached its 75th anniversary in a unified country, the same could not be said about the old Bonn party model.
The latter was transported to East Germany in 1990 as part of an expedited unification contract that dispensed socialism, introduced the Deutschmark and Grundig televisions for all.
In a pre-election town meeting at Hoyerswerda near Dresden last month, a former eastern town councillor recalled being transported to Bonn for a touch-and-go course in democratic party politics.
According to the former CDU functionary, Horst, they promised that it was the most valuable gift and it would offer stability and must be protected at all costs. Questions were never asked if it suited us.
As of 6pm on the first of September, the postwar political framework of Bonn has effectively collapsed, following in the footsteps of the obsolete German currency and Grundig electronics. This downfall can be attributed to the massive protest vote from Eastern voters, reflecting their frustration over ten years of immigration issues; 300,000 individuals sought asylum just last year. There has been a surge in violent incidents, a prolonged economic downturn, and a fractured coalition in Berlin.
The fact that half of the voters in Thuringia and Saxony threw their support behind newly established populist groups carries substantial weight. However, the question arises as to whether they or their political representatives have disrupted Löbe’s vision of parliamentary democracy: namely, a steady government, a thriving economy, and the promise of social stability.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD), under the leadership of Olaf Scholz, garnered a meagre 7 per cent of votes in the recent elections, despite being established in Saxony in 1863. The SPD chancellor and his team have since been preoccupied with reinforcing their communication strategy, rather than addressing this decline in support.
Contrarily, the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) – the group forged by the likes of Konrad Adenauer, Helmut Kohl, and Angela Merkel – secured roughly a third of last weekend’s votes. This positions them favourably for a potential return to power in Berlin next year. Their strong showing in three eastern state elections was achieved by adopting the rhetoric and policy stances typical of the AfD.
The CDU signalled that they will not align with the AfD as they see this group as destabilising for democracy. The AfD retorted by labelling their exclusion from coalition discussions in Saxony and Thuringia as undemocratic, warning that voters may hold a grudge. Now, the local CDU indicates is open to negotiations with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). This party has risen to prominence in both states after securing impressive results in their debut election.
This apparent change in stance by the eastern CDU, now signalling a willingness to work with the BSW, members of which they had previously dismissed when they represented the post-communist Left party, has stunned their western CDU peers. One criticisable note: BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht challenges all the hallmarks of the CDU’s political philosophy since the establishment of the federal republic, such as a unified Europe and NATO membership.
The 75th birthday of parliamentary democracy has found itself defined by shifting political alliances and a surge of populist movements. The political standing of Germany is perceived differently by different factions; some see it gravitating towards populism while others view the eastern voters as an early warning system in democratic governance.
Literature professor at Saxony, Dirk Oschmann, finds himself in the latter group. His controversial book from last year, The Easterners – a West German Invention, became a hit for primarily its critique of Western German stereotypes of the East that have accumulated over the past three decades. Oschmann argues that Germany is gradually aligning more with France’s and Austria’s mainstream politics, while exploring its own evolving historical context.
He foresees that it will take time for his united nation to adapt, as long as all Germans acknowledge the mutual historical comprehension of the unification in 1990 as “a mix of acquisition and transfer”. In his opinion, the past disputes about memory are now resurfacing. According to Oschmann, the refusal to concede to these points has given rise to populists exploiting outdated post-unification narratives of inappreciative Easterners and conceited Westerners.
This viewpoint is shared by objective Eastern political observers and sociologists, who point out that the Western German political setup introduced in 1990 has often found it challenging to take root in the East. They were founded on the faulty premise that, much like the West, these parties would find support in social environments such as unions, churches, and clubs.
However, in the absence of such institutions in the East, AfD and BSW have flourished by ingratiating themselves in local communities or by taking control of political leadership, thus offering policies that appeal to primarily conservative voters: limited migration, peacelight populism, and pro-Russian rhetoric.
Recent elections have spurred a debate about what the AfD-BSW surge is truly undermining, whether it’s democracy itself or just the dominant liberal democratic ideals since the 1990s.
According to Professor Philip Manow, a political scientist at the University of Siegen, Germany’s political party system is evolving to be more in line with that of its neighbours. This transformation, Manow suggests, has also brought discussions concerning the future and nature of western democracy to the forefront in Germany.
In his contentious new work, “Under Observation”, Prof Manow points out that understanding democracy requires an appreciation of its historic development. Manow shares an oft-overlooked perspective – that a democracy’s validity doesn’t rely solely on its liberal characteristics.
The relocation of the Bundestag from Bonn to Berlin 25 years ago marked a significant point in democratic history. During a recent commemorative gathering on the capital’s river Spree, attendees watched nostalgic footage of their democracy’s inception, which was projected onto the modern architectural forms of the new parliamentary buildings.
As yet another key transitional period looms, with the German parliament due to be elected a year from now, the consensus among many citizens appears to be that this shift in the country’s political framework will undoubtedly invoke new challenges and prospects.
Paul, a 56-year-old practitioner of psychotherapy, commented on this ongoing evolution by examining the AfD party’s divide. While one faction remains preoccupied with traditional notions of race and German identity, Paul notes that the other faction is probably as conservative as Konrad Adenauer, the inaugural West German chancellor. Despite Adenauer’s conservatism, Paul contends, his democratic legitimacy was not lessened.