What Die Linke Should Do
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- Published on Wednesday, 13 April 2016 23:30
- Written by editor
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1246 .... April 14, 2016
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What Die Linke Should Do
Bernd Riexinger
The March 13 regional election results were a bitter setback for Die Linke and everyone fighting for social justice and democracy in Germany. The results of the parliamentary elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg, and Rhineland-Palatinate signify a major shift in the political landscape.
For years now, studies have identified a potential voting base for parties of the far right ranging from 15 to 20 per cent of the electorate. Germany's rising right-populist force, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has now managed to capture and concentrate this potential. But knowing this is not cause to breathe a sigh of relief -- if anything, it's quite the opposite, because the AfD is really just the tip of the iceberg. Germany... is currently experiencing a dangerous rise in right-wing violence against refugees, which in turn is part of a broader right-wing Kulturkampf characterized by the anti-Muslim racism of figures like Thilo Sarrazin and growing reactionary mobilizations against the achievements of the women's movement.
The "grand coalition" has gradually adopted more right-wing positions, mediated by the racist public outbursts of Horst Seehofer and the Green Party's support for further restrictions to asylum law. In other words, the AfD is getting exactly what it wants: political discourse as a whole is drifting steadily to the right.