Destructive far-right out to shatter German politics - The Japan Times | Canada News Media
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Destructive far-right out to shatter German politics – The Japan Times

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The city of Erfurt, a quiet, chocolate-box town of around 200,000 inhabitants, is an unlikely epicenter for an earthquake that is shaking German politics to its post-war foundations.

Yet last week, the city was the scene of a political scandal that toppled Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chosen successor and laid bare how the destructive tactics of the far-right are paralyzing traditional parties.

The election of a new state premier in Thuringia with the help of votes from the extremist, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party broke a decades-old taboo on cooperation with the far right.

It also exposed the growing influence wielded by the AfD, which Merkel accused this week of wanting to “cripple democracy.”

Founded in 2013 as an anti-euro single currency outfit, the party has grown and moved rightward over the last seven years and is now the largest opposition group in Germany’s lower house, the Bundestag.

They have been particularly successful in the former East Germany, picking up over 20 percent of the vote in a number of state elections.

Such results have made it more and more difficult for other parties to form coalitions, leading to situations such as the one in Thuringia.

The election of Thomas Kemmerich of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) party was the first time a state premier had relied on AfD votes to secure election.

Kemmerich, who was also supported by his own party and Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), stepped down almost immediately in the face of nationwide outrage.

But the AfD have remained on the offensive.

They have even threatened to vote back into office the remaining viable candidate, former Premier Bodo Ramelow of the Left party, in order to force him too to resign and leave Thuringia without a workable coalition.

For Merkel, such tactics represent a threat to democracy itself.

According to reports in the German media, Merkel told lawmakers from her CDU party this week that she had forewarned Thuringian colleagues against falling for the AfD’s “tricks.”

“It is clear that (the AfD) wants to cripple democracy, to undermine democracy,” she said, adding that a cooperation with the party remained out of the question.

Yet the increasing influence of the AfD poses a threat to the chancellor’s legacy.

Her authority undermined by the Thuringia scandal, Merkel’s chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, stepped down as party leader earlier this week and ruled out a bid for the chancellorship.

The question of how to deal with the AfD is now dominating the search for a new leader. Some potential candidates, such as former Merkel rival Friedrich Merz and health minister Jens Spahn, advocate a drift to the right to win back lost voters.

“Two CDU leaders have now failed in a short space of time because of the AfD,” wrote Der Spiegel website.

The party, it added, had become a “driving force” in German politics, despite polling only around 15 percent nationally.

The party’s strategy, dubbed “constructive destruction” by far-right theorist Goetz Kubitschek, continues to squeeze traditional parties across the country.

“The AfD’s strategy … is to establish itself as a party which is oppositional and critical of the system, in order to become interesting and attractive for people who are critical of democracy or even anti-democratic,” said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University.

This was “counterproductive” for the AfD’s long-term goal of entering government, he said.

Yet the far right was disrupting German politics more broadly by “attacking the rules and norms which make up democratic political culture,” he added.

One of those norms is the long-standing culture of remembrance for Nazi crimes, which has come under fire from AfD politicians.

Though such attacks appall most voters, some fear that the AfD’s ability to paralyze the political system may soon be on show beyond the borders of sleepy Thuringia.

“I fear that in a few years, what is currently happening in Thuringia will be seen on a national level,” the CDU’s Wolfgang Bosbach told broadcaster NTV this week.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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