BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht described parts of the German government as “far-right” in the Focus magazine podcast “Machtmenschen.” She said that for her, far-right means anyone who wants a society based on authoritarianism, suppression of free speech, and dismantling democracy. From this she concluded: “If I define the term that way, then we currently have far-right extremists in the federal government.”
The trigger was the question of whether she considers the AfD a far-right party. Wagenknecht called for engaging with the AfD’s positions. While there are people there who are very far right, she pointed to the federal government, which wants to make Germany the largest military power in Europe – “in the past, one would have said that is right-wing, perhaps even far-right.”
She also criticized planned new powers for the domestic intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz), which would turn the agency into a “secret police.” She also called the exclusion of AfD candidates from elections unconstitutional and undemocratic. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) wants to restructure the intelligence services and allow them to intervene directly in dangerous situations.
Wagenknecht also commented on Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, who had previously offered her the post of minister-president. She rejects Höcke and does not consider him “a particularly liberal person.” Asked whether she equates Höcke with Friedrich Merz, she replied: “In the point that they are pushing authoritarianism. Friedrich Merz does that, the SPD does that, and the Greens do that too.”
Source: www.welt.de
