“Germany needs a stable government, and we will make it.” With some effort, Angela Merkel will succeed in keeping her promise in her fourth term. No one in her party has the power to make her pay for the 8 percentage points lost in this election. Not even the CSU, the CDU’s Bavarian allies, who, despite making an open complaint against the chancellor’s migration policy and maintaining a solid right-wing stance, have suffered a real collapse and risk losing the historic absolute majority in the Land.
Nevertheless, the perceived chaos is much bigger than the reality, and talking, as some do, of the “end of an era” is definitely across the line. AfD’s strong statement, somewhat above the already unpleasant voting response, actually makes an impression and will poison the social climate of the country, counting from today on a large parliamentary forum. However, for the nationalist and identity-oriented party, its political agility is clearly limited.
The authoritarian right in the Federal Republic, more or less nostalgic, has always existed, ever since the allies hastily put an end to denazification with the outbreak of the Cold War. They keep a low profile in the CDU ranks, especially in the CSU led by the hot blooded Franz Josef Strauss.