German Federal election results: A Right turn in global polity

Having emerged victorious from the German federal elections, Angela Merkel is on her way to becoming the Chancellor of Germany for the fourth time in a row. This development is of significant import for India as it is keenly invested in maintaining a cordial relationship with Europe, and Merkel, by virtue of being Europe’s most powerful leader will be highly instrumental in maintaining a mutually advantageous bond. Undeniably, Merkel’s victory in the polls has raised her stature many folds in the eyes of the European Union. Her Party — Christian Democratic Union — and its allies have managed to secure 33 per cent of the vote share, effectively cementing Merkel’s prospects of forming the new government. However, the election results have thrown up a few surprises as well. Consider, for instance, that the country’s nationalist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has secured 12.6 per cent of the votes in the polls. For the nationalist parties in Germany, this is no less than a quantum leap. After Adolf Hitler’s resounding defeat in World War II in 1945, this is the first time a party from the Right has managed to make inroads in the German Parliament. This development, quite naturally, will have long-lasting repercussions on the global polity. 

A consequence of grave concern to Merkel’s party is that her total vote share has reduced in this poll, essentially due to her stand on the refugee crisis which presently ails Germany and the European continent at large. Many affluent countries in the Middle East, as well as Europe, have turned a cold shoulder to the hapless refugees looking for a safe haven from the grim war waging in Syria. At such a critical juncture, it is Merkel who rose to the task and chose to shelter ten lakh refugees in Germany on humanitarian grounds. This decision has not been without its attendant cost. Naturally, AfD has mined the situation to its advantage, emerging as the third largest party in the recent polls. 

For now, the road ahead is not a smooth one for the Chancellor. Not one to play its cards close to its chest, AfD has made its intentions clear that it has no plans to kowtow to Merkel’s roadmap for Germany. 

World over, the liberal community has equated AfD with Hitler’s Nazi party. Many of them are remiss in their assessment given that Hitler’s ideology was not based on nationalism alone, but was informed by racism as well.

History is now inclined to remember Hitler as the man who engineered a genocide against the German Jews. After thrusting the world community deep in the crisis of a World War, his legacy now is pockmarked by cruelty and inhuman barbarity. In the aftermath of his suicide, which he committed along with his companion Eva Braun, the Right-wing in Germany hasn’t been able to find its feet. It is only now, almost three-quarters of a century after the Second World War, that the nationalist ideology has received a strong fillip in Germany. It is quite obvious that Germany’s up and coming Right-wing will forestall smooth sailing for Chancellor Merkel.

Evidently, India’s self-proclaimed secular class has a veritable allergy to the ideology of ‘nationalism’. It is almost as if the word has become a source of deep unease. However, that is not the case in other countries. With the war in Syria assuming grave proportions and the refugee crisis aggravating further, there has been a corresponding rise in the vote share of nationalist parties in Europe. For instance, in Austria, the electoral stake of the Freedom Party saw a rise of 10 per cent. Bulgaria’s nationalist party IMRO witnessed a 10 per cent increase in the number of votes cast in its favour. In Denmark, the Danish People’s Party saw their voter base move north by 9 per cent, while in France the Nationalist Front, led by its president Marine Le Pen, experienced a jump in its vote share of almost 13 per cent. In the same vein, AfD’s share has risen by 8 per cent. What’s more, who can forget Donald Trump’s emphatic victory in the US Presidential race?

Noticeably, the Right-wing is on the rise throughout the world. However, unlike in India, overseas, the people who identify themselves as secular do not mindlessly rail against nationalism.

The author is the Editor-In-Chief, Zee Media