[Andres]

German Anti-Immigration NPD Party Wins Seats in State Election

By Andreas Cremer and Brian Parkin

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's anti-immigration National Democratic Party gained entry to a second state parliament, as voters in the region with the country's highest jobless rate used elections yesterday to vent their anger at the ruling coalition.

The NPD won 7.3 percent of the vote -- equivalent to six seats -- in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to preliminary results. Mecklenburg, home to Chancellor Angela Merkel's election district, which was visited by U.S. President George W. Bush in July, now joins the eastern state of Saxony in having NPD state lawmakers.

``Economic poverty and endless jobless queues make a fertile base for protest parties,'' Uwe Andersen, a political-science professor at the University of Bochum, said today. The NPD ``cannibalized the main parties' economic failures.''

About one-in-five people is without work in Mecklenburg, one of just three regions where gross domestic product shrank last year. Yesterday saw the Christian Democrats score their worst- ever result in the state, while the Social Democrats emerged the largest party though with a drop in support of more than 10 percent. The state has been ruled since 1998 by a coalition of the SPD and the ex-communist Party of Democratic Socialism.

`Hard-Core Opposition'

``We will provide hard-core opposition and expose the full impotence of this red-red catastrophe,'' said Udo Pastoers, the NPD's lead candidate in Mecklenburg, referring to the colors of the incumbent coalition of Social Democrats and PDS.

The NPD urges reintroduction of the deutsche mark and calls for Germany to quit membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It also campaigns for the federal government to stop granting asylum to foreigners.

The rise of the NPD in Mecklenburg means three of Germany's six eastern states will now host anti-immigration, anti-foreigner parties in their regional assemblies. Two years ago, the NPD won 9.2 percent in Saxony, its second-best result in a regional vote since the party was founded in 1964. The German Peoples' Union, set up by publisher Gerhard Frey and known as the DVU, has been represented in Brandenburg's assembly since 1999.

The DVU, which like the NPD is monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, captured 12.9 percent support in the 1998 election in Saxony-Anhalt amid voter disenchantment with former chancellor Helmut Kohl's national coalition government. That's the highest score to date by any of Germany's anti-immigration parties in a regional ballot.

Frustration

The DVU also has one lawmaker in the 83-member assembly of Germany's north-western city-state of Bremen.

``People are frustrated by the main parties' inability to tackle the country's problems,'' Volker Kronenberg, a political analyst at the University of Bonn, told news broadcaster N-TV in an interview. ``No wonder the NPD is making big gains.''

Still, their impact on national politics has been negligible. In October 2004, the NPD and DVU agreed not to contest elections in the same state to avoid losing votes to each other. Before last year's national vote, the NPD allowed DVU candidates to campaign on its lists, helping the party to score a nationwide 1.6 percent, its best result in a German national election since 1969.

Yesterday's Mecklenburg result mirrors developments seen under Germany's first ``grand coalition'' government of the 1960s. The alliance of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats then fanned support for the NPD, helping the party to enter seven regional assemblies over the grand coalition's 3-year tenure.

``It's the old rule of thumb -- the elephants' wedding is driving voters to the fringes,'' Andersen said.

I find this trend quite worrying. I know some will blame this is as a natural effect of multiculturalism, but that just seems misguided. The main problem seems to be the economy (as this article and others I have read state), but there is not really that much immigration to Germany so that immigration would be the cause of the poor economy in East Germany. It just seems to be ignorant scapegoating: the economy is bad, blame the few immigrants for it.

[Zel]

I find this trend quite worrying. I know some will blame this is as a natural effect of multiculturalism,

As the respective areas where these parties have gained support are the regions with the lowest amount of immigrants in Germany.

[euglena]

Oh my god.

Die Schwartzen finally did it eh. This is going to be an interesting year for Germany.

Sigh.

[Zel]

Actually die "Schwarzen" are the CDU. The NPD is normaly depicted as brown like the Nazi party was.

[ianulus]

Economic problems are always blamed for the success of the extreme right. What I think is more problematic than that are problems with the institutions dealing with it. Don't forget that during the Weimar years, the courts and police showing leniency towards brown violence were a major asset to them. With the east having only recently been freed from dictatorship, I suspect there is still a fair amount of the old mindset present in the personnel making up those institutions, and labeling any criticism to that effect as politically incorect has hampered dealing with it. The neonazis are more free to terrorise the public than would be appropriate.

Still, more than ten times the number of people voted for democratic parties, and it's only a regional election. I don't see neonazis threatening democracy here anytime soon. Yet, as long as democracy doesn't manage to prove its superiority, the problem isn't going to go away.

I say the police and courts must be tougher on violence and neonazi propaganda, we must find ways to make politics more honest and effective and then, once the economic situation improves, dealing with the problem should be much easier.

[euglena]

The Poli Sci students in Berlin (HU) called them Die Schwartzen

Perhaps in Austria the lingo is different

[Shade2]

The party believes use of Bundeswehr should be used to change border of Poland.
It was mistake to let Germany exist in its form after WW2.

[Wilelm]

The NPD urges reintroduction of the deutsche mark and calls for Germany to quit membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It also campaigns for the federal government to stop granting asylum to foreigners.

The NPD has earned my support. I advocate all of these measures. NATO and EU need to be demolished, foreigners of all kind need to be booted out, and Poland has to return land it stole from us. I want to see the Polish state vanish from the map. Germany belongs to the Germans.

[ianulus]

The party believes use of Bundeswehr should be used to change border of Poland.
It was mistake to let Germany exist in its form after WW2.

What an idiotic comment, devoid of any regard for reality. You're an irrseponsible, full-of-hate propagandist. People like you make war possible in the first place. You disgust me.

[CeilingCat]

The NPD has earned my support. I advocate all of these measures. NATO and EU need to be demolished, foreigners of all kind need to be booted out, and Poland has to return land it stole from us. I want to see the Polish state vanish from the map. Germany belongs to the Germans.

Mmmmmkay. I see you have learned so much from the outcome of WWI and WWII. If germany tries something like this again they will be lucky to have a country left considering the world balance of power in 2006.

Keep dreaming naziboy .

[Vasili Schmidt]

The NPD is by far the lesser evil compared to the bourgeois right-wing party led by Merkel and the bourgeois counterfeit "left" party led by Schroeder. Both of these major bourgeois parties are parties of war and aggression. You saw how the so-called leftist Schroeder enthusiastically jumped abroad the campaign of genocide against the Yugoslav people.

Germany's anti-immigration National Democratic Party gained entry to a second state parliament, as voters in the region with the country's highest jobless rate used elections yesterday to vent their anger at the ruling coalition.

How does an anti-immigrant stance harm the vast majority of the population in Germany? Anti-immigrant position is solely in favour of working people who are threatened by economic opportunists systematically trying to steal the jobs of unemployed Germans. Germany does not need immigration because Japan has never needed immigration. There is no excuse for there to be non-indigenous people in Germany. Until the German government takes steps to act in the peoples' interests which include scrapping of immigration, attacks against foreigners will continue.

The NPD urges reintroduction of the deutsche mark and calls for Germany to quit membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It also campaigns for the federal government to stop granting asylum to foreigners.

The NPD has taken a correct view on all these matters. the Euro has destroyed the economy of numerous EU members chiefly Germany and Italy. The EU is a vehicle for Popperian capitalist tyranny and anyone who supports it is an automatic class enemy.

NATO is a body for war, aggression, and genocide. You saw the merciless aggression unleashed upon Yugoslavia in 1999. The German people after devastating wars are war-weary. NATO needs to be abolished. NATO with its outright provocation of Russia is the single largest threat to world peace.

Foreign spies cloaked as "refugee" or "asylum seeker" needs to be kept under control. The German people are clearly disgusted with how many non-Germans there are in their homeland. The tyrannical oligarchy that rules Germany never consulted the German people for bringing in these opportunistic "guest workers".

[| I, CWAS |]

I know some will blame this is as a natural effect of multiculturalism

I am one of these people.

[ianulus]

I am one of these people.

We know that.

[Vasili Schmidt]

I know some will blame this is as a natural effect of multiculturalism

Those who try to deny that imperialist multiculturalism is responsible for these sentiments are being spitefully oblivious. Without the presence of unauthorized aliens in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, extremist right-wing parties led by the likes of Le Pen would have no campaign to run on. No immigration = no right-wing xenophobies. Casual opinion polls show that Germans correctly feel that there is an excess of foreigners in Germany. Fully 10% of Germany's population today is non-German. Most of these are Turks who have flocked to Germany for the sake of trying to exploit Germany's economic opportunities at the expense of native workers.

[C-Kokos]

Ah well, I don't think that there's anything to worry about. The extreme right is indeed on the rise in Europe as the petty bourgeoisie feels threatened by both the mass onslaught of capital and the gradual radicalization of the working class that takes place in response to that. They are caught in the middle and hold on to fascism like a drowning person holds on to whatever they might find afloat.

By the way, this thread has made me like Ianulus a lot. We share similar opinions on certain "people" on this forum it appears.

[Andres]

Anti-immigrant position is solely in favour of working people who are threatened by economic opportunists systematically trying to steal the jobs of unemployed Germans

Except that, almost no jobs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are being lost by German workers and going to immigrants. Apparently the biggest problem is the economy, and it is not going to get better by blaming the few immigrants who live there. The whole position just seems as scapegoating.

There is no excuse for there to be non-indigenous people in Germany.

But this is a fabricated issue. The problem is the economy and in in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania it is not being hurt by immigrants. Might as well blame a species of duck for all the good it will do.

the Euro has destroyed the economy of numerous EU members chiefly Germany and Italy

Prove it.

Those who try to deny that imperialist multiculturalism is responsible for these sentiments are being spitefully oblivious.

What percentage of people are immigrants in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania? It seems you are the spitefully ignorant, the sources I have read, including the one in this thread, state that the main problem is the economy, and the economy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is not being adversely affected by immigrants.

Fully 10% of Germany's population today is non-German. Most of these are Turks who have flocked to Germany for the sake of trying to exploit Germany's economic opportunities at the expense of native workers.

But almost none of those 10% live in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which is what the article is about.

Have you ever wondered why the NPD is not much of a force in the more prosperous länder?

[soron]

The NPD has earned my support. I advocate all of these measures. NATO and EU need to be demolished, foreigners of all kind need to be booted out, and Poland has to return land it stole from us. I want to see the Polish state vanish from the map. Germany belongs to the Germans.

Let's see, you're lobby fodder, no location and your name "Wilelm" is written wrong if it's supposed to reflect the latest German emperor's name.
I think you're not German but a board troll throwing out flame bait so I will not waste any further thought on this issue.

[Vasili Schmidt]

economy in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is not being adversely affected by immigrants.

This tries to whitewash the issue. If there were no immigrants in this area, then the NPD would not have a platform to run on. If this was about the economy, then Die Linke would have swept the election. But this is not about only the economy. It is also about the cultural threat that these foreigners pose to the German heritage.

Except that, almost no jobs in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are being lost by German workers and going to immigrants.

Right-wing parties in Europe have made huge electoral gains because of harmful immigration. This is the case in France and this is the case in Germany.

The problem is the economy and in in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania it is not being hurt by immigrants.

A party whose platform has blunt anti-immigration would not have a reason to exist if there is not an immigration problem in the appropriate province where they've made electoral gains.

I'm not a fascist, but the NPD and Le Pen are saints compared to the oligarch tyrants of the "Social Democrats".

Prove it.

The economy of Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium have been in a horrendous shape for years. Wages stayed the same and the Euro doubled the prices of everything.

[Zel]

This tries to whitewash the issue. If there were no immigrants in this area, then the NPD would not have a platform to run on. If this was about the economy, then Die Linke would have swept the election. But this is not about only the economy. It is also about the cultural threat that these foreigners pose to the German heritage.

Mecklemburg Vorpommern is one of the German regions with the lowest amount of immigration. The area is partly deserted because people are moving away from there as they cant find jobs. Nobody moves there voluntarily so there is no point of blaming immigration as this is an emmigration area. And the Linke is no viable protest party in Mecklemburg as they have been in the government there for 2 periods now (BTW 18 % isnt that low a percentage for a far left party)

Right-wing parties in Europe have made huge electoral gains because of harmful immigration. This is the case in France and this is the case in Germany.

Rightwing parties gain and loose as do other parties. Right Wing parties made it to German regional parliaments in the past and were kicked out again in subsequent elections. And at this time there never was a rightwing party that made it into the federal parliament in Germany.

A party whose platform has blunt anti-immigration would not have a reason to exist if there is not an immigration problem in the appropriate province where they've made electoral gains.

I'm not a fascist, but the NPD and Le Pen are saints compared to the oligarch tyrants of the "Social Democrats".

The NPD isnt just Anti immigration it is anti state anti democratic anti systemic. You have any personal problem and they will point to something or someone to blame it on. There are villages and towns in eastern Germany that are bleeding out with only the undereducated and old still living there. Those areas are slowly dying and people are depressed. What the NPD offers them are scapegoats and easy solutions. Look at Saxony 1/4 of their party club in the regional parliament already deserted them. They havent done a single thing for their electorate and polls point to them beeing kicked out with the next election.

The economy of Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium have been in a horrendous shape for years. Wages stayed the same and the Euro doubled the prices of everything.

Miraculously inflation remained quite low for all those countries and reforms are starting to bring the economy back up. There are ups and downs in economy and all in all those countries remain at the top of living quality and social wellfare.

[soron]

Regarding the rightwingers in Eastern Germany I had the opportunity to listen to a very good dissertation about the problems in Eastern Germany.
There's a vile catch-22 going on: There are not enough jobs for young people. So mostly the young women who work in service jobs (in hotels or restaurants and the like) which require high mobility will leave. This has resulted in a disproportion of the ratio between men and women - there are not enough women left in order to keep a healthy demographic process running.
The result was what the lecturer (a professor at the university in Freiburg) called an "almost tribal young men's society", complete with masculinity rituals (drinking, brawling, comradie) which is mostly catered for by the rightwing parties. Hence the development towards rightwing views despite obvious absence of immigrants (foreigners or Germans) in the region. The "foreigners" are where the Eastern German women found jobs.

This is neither exaggeration on my part nor a matter to take lightly: Right now, large areas of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are only populated by old people. This will have results on infrastructure - things that depend on younger people as customers will vanish. Making it even less attractive for young people to move into the area (or stay there).
If this development can't be stopped (and it very much looks that way right now) then most of the German population will be concentrated in former "Western Germany" (with a few exceptions in the vicinities of large cities like Dresden, Chemnitz and of course Berlin) while most of the Eastern German countryside will become ghosttowns, requiring resettlement.