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POLITICS

Merkel’s candidate seeks to close gap in TV debate

A televised election debate on Sunday marks one of the last chances for Germany's struggling chancellor candidate Armin Laschet, from Angela Merkel's conservative camp, to close the gap with his centre-left rival.

Merkel's candidate seeks to close gap in TV debate
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader and chancellor candidate Armin Laschet reacts as he addresses a congress of the CDU's sister party Christian Social Union CSU in Nuremberg, southern Germany, on September 11. Photo: Christof Stache/AFP

Two weeks before voters head to the polls, gaffe-prone Laschet will face off against Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD) and Annalena Baerbock from the left-leaning Greens in the second of three primetime debates.

The first general election of the post-Merkel era has become an unexpected nailbiter in Europe’s top economy.

Surveys show support for Merkel’s centre-right CDU/CSU bloc plummeting to historic lows of around 20 percent while the SPD has come from behind to lead at around 26 percent.

With the Greens polling at 15 percent, a number of coalition outcomes are possible — but observers say the chances of one-time frontrunner Laschet taking the crown are fading fast.

Bild newspaper said the debate could be make-or-break for Laschet.

“To turn the tide, he needs a clear success,” it wrote.

Viewers were left unconvinced by Laschet’s performance in the first debate last month, when Scholz was declared the winner.

READ ALSO: 

‘Historic debacle’

Laschet, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, has been on a downward spiral following a series of missteps, including being caught on camera laughing during a tribute to victims of Germany’s deadly floods in July.

Scholz meanwhile, although often described as wooden and uncharismatic, has run an error-free campaign.

As vice-chancellor and guardian of the nation’s finances, the 63-year-old has positioned himself as the continuity candidate and the natural heir to Merkel’s legacy — despite hailing from a rival party.

The CDU/CSU alliance that has dominated Germany’s post-war politics now faces a “historic debacle” on September 26, Der Spiegel weekly news magazine wrote.

In a sign of growing nervousness, conservatives have gone on the attack against Scholz, accusing him of riding on Merkel’s coat-tails and of trying to steer Germany to the left.

Even Merkel, who is bowing out after 16 years in power and had vowed to stay out of the election battle, has joined the fray.

She visited a flood-hit region with Laschet and used a speech in parliament this week to cast him as the best choice to succeed her, saying he stood for “stability” and “centrism”.

Comeback king?

The still immensely popular chancellor also distanced herself from Scholz, criticising him for not unequivocally ruling out a coalition with the radical-left Linke party, which wants to disband NATO.

The Linke is currently polling at six percent and could theoretically be part of a three-way coalition with the SPD and the Greens.

Addressing a congress of the CSU on Saturday, Laschet said such a coalition would lead to “less security” and endanger Germany’s economic growth through higher taxes and more bureaucracy.

Laschet, 60, also courted controversy by saying that the Social Democrats were “on the wrong side” at key moments in Germany’s post-war history.

The remark drew an immediate rebuke from the SPD, which said it revealed Laschet’s “panic” at his slump in the polls.

SPD general-secretary Lars Klingbeil said the CDU/CSU alliance had “lost its dignity under Laschet”, adding: “It belongs in the opposition.”

Laschet has played down the importance of Sunday’s debate, saying the battle for the chancellery would be fought until polling day.

But Laschet’s fate could be sealed sooner, with record numbers expected to vote by post because of the pandemic.

Although Laschet has a track record of snatching unexpected last-minute victories, Spiegel said a typical Laschet comeback “is looking unlikely”.
  

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CRIME

German far-right politician back in court over Nazi slogan

Controversial German far-right politician Björn Höcke went on trial Monday over a banned Nazi slogan that has already earned him a conviction.

German far-right politician back in court over Nazi slogan

Höcke, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), was fined €13,000 in May for knowingly using the phrase “Alles für Deutschland” (Everything for Germany) at a 2021 campaign rally.

A motto of the Sturmabteilung paramilitary group that played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, the phrase is illegal in Germany, along with the Nazi salute and other slogans and symbols from that era.

Höcke, a former high school history teacher, claimed he was unaware of the slogan’s Nazi past but judges in Halle agreed with prosecutors that he fully understood what he was saying.

The same court will now have to decide whether Höcke, the leader of the AfD in the eastern region of Thuringia, is guilty of knowingly using the slogan a second time at a party gathering in his home state in December 2023.

Höcke had called out the phrase “everything for” and allegedly incited the crowd to reply “Germany”.

If convicted, he could face a fine or up to three years in jail, according to German media. A verdict could come as early as this week.

Considered an extremist by German intelligence services, Hoecke has long courted controversy.

He once called Berlin’s Holocaust monument a “memorial of shame” and has urged a “180-degree shift” in the country’s culture of remembrance.

But the scandals haven’t dented his popularity, and Hoecke is gunning to become Germany’s first far-right state premier when Thuringia holds regional elections in September.

READ ALSO: Germany’s far-right AfD sees strong gains in local eastern elections

The anti-Islam, anti-immigration AfD is currently polling in first place in Thuringia. The party is also expected to perform strongly in two other regional elections in eastern Germany in September.

But in a country where coalition governments are the norm, Germany’s mainstream parties have consistently ruled out cooperating with the AfD.

The AfD scored a record 16 percent in the European Parliament elections earlier this month, outperforming Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

READ ALSO: What the EU elections say about the state of politics in Germany

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