After Saxony-Anhalt: Is the firewall now history?

After the election in Saxony-Anhalt, the firewall to the AfD will be discussed. The strict demarcation course should keep the AfD away from power. She could now miss this goal. Is the firewall history now?

By Jürgen P. Lang The CDU's incompatibility decision with the AfD has become outdated - in February 2018, the Stuttgart Party Congress erected the firewall. With the exception of the BSW, all other parties participated in the ban on cooperation with the AfD. One goal was to minimize the AfD's increase in votes.

Result: Failed to take effect. With the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, a second goal is probably not achieved, namely to keep the AfD away from power. While Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) sticks firmly to the strict demarcation course, Bavarian Prime Minister Söder (CSU) takes a completely different tone: "The concept of a firewall has failed," he said on the ARD programme Maischberger. Is the firewall even history now?

"The firewall has been crumbling for quite some time," says populism expert Philipp Adorf from the University of Bonn in an interview with tagesschau.de. "The goal of excluding the AfD from power always depended on keeping the party electorally relatively small." A party with 10 to 15 percent of the electorate can be "governed relatively easily", with a party with 30 percent and more, this is becoming increasingly difficult. However, the fire wall was initially only in Saxony-Anhalt. Party researcher Constantin Wurthmann from the University of Mainz criticises the firewall for never being consistently implemented.

In this context, he does not look at the election results, but at the protection of democracy, the third goal of the firewall. In an interview with tagesschau.de, he warns that, after Saxony-Anhalt, it is "more important than ever to protect democratic institutions." Democracy in a bind The firewall touches on a dilemma of democracy: Which weighs more heavily: protecting democracy from extremists or the will of voters? In Saxony-Anhalt, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist.

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