A statement from the coordination team of MERA25 and DiEM25 in Germany

Fascism is making a comeback in Germany. This should be a wake-up call for everyone. The far-right and fascist forces in Germany have now reached an unprecedented strength with the AfD‘s election result doubling to over 20 percent. As expected, an election campaign focussed by the media on the issue of migration and in which established parties have little to distinguish them from the far right in terms of content has resulted in a major victory for the far right.

The former coalition partners Greens, SPD and FDP failed historically, not only while governing, but also in the break up of their coalition, the quickly-called undemocratic new elections and, on top of that, by pandering to the extreme right in the election campaign. The FDP has deservedly been thrown out of parliament, and the Greens and SPD lost significantly. The designated new chancellor Friedrich Merz and the conservatives lead the movement to the right and make slight gains due to their role in the opposition in the last parliament.

The only established party to focus its election campaign on social issues rather than deportations was Die Linke, which was rewarded for this and made gains. On the other hand, the experiment of a pseudo-left party, which also blinks to the right on the issue of migration, has failed, just as the BSW narrowly missed the 5 percent hurdle.

With left-wing politics against fascism

What else remains? Voter turnout is higher than it has been since 1987. Just like during the Cold War, people are rightly concerned about rearmament and warmongering and the extreme right, but the right can also mobilise many voters.

For MERA25, even standing for election was a success due to the short-term and very undemocratic circumstances. Despite the most unfavourable conditions, MERA25 was on the ballot paper in 3 out of 16 federal states. Nevertheless, our result was not what we expected. We are thankful for our 7,128 votes and are now starting the next chapter with our many new members, while also recognising that there is still a lot of work ahead of us.

Especially with an overwhelming right-wing majority in the new parliament, politics on the streets is now more important than ever. Our task lies in uncompromising politics against fascism, in supporting the many and amplifying their voices, which would otherwise not be heard and in the fight for spaces for discourse, as we were able to show during the organisation of the event with UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

Both the government and the opposition can rest assured: We will keep up the pressure as part of our internationalist movement. Our day’s work is dedicated to radical solidarity in response to the return of fascism in Germany. Carpe DiEM.

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