Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany on Thursday to protest the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parties.
The demonstrations came one day after chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz worked with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to push draft anti-immigration legislation through the lower house of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.
Police in Berlin estimated the crowd size at CDU headquarters to be around 6,000, more than the 4,000 that were expected but less than the 13,000 organizers claimed were there.
Organizers accuse Merz of ‘making AfD extremism socially acceptable’
Wednesday’s vote was harshly criticized by Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and numerous church and civil society groups as a breach of the post-war German taboo against cooperation with extremist parties.
Until now, all of Germany’s major parties have abided by the custom, having taken to heart the lesson of the Nazis’ rise to power via democratic structures. The business-friendly FDP also voted with Merz.
The alliance “Together Against the Right” called for Thursday’s protest under the motto, “No Cooperation With the AfD.”
Protest co-organizer Carolin Moser, for instance, accused Merz and the CDU/CSU of making the “AfD’s right-wing extremism socially acceptable.”
Earlier action prompts police investigation
As a precaution, employees at CDU party headquarters were told to go home early on Thursday, before the evening protest.
Security services had reportedly warned that safe exit from the building could not be guaranteed later, though police described the atmosphere at the event as “peaceful.”
Earlier in the day, a group of around 30-to-50 demonstrators forced their way into a CDU district office in the western Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, where individuals calling themselves the “Resistance” alliance demanded that the party stop all cooperation with the AfD.
The disturbance lasted for about an hour, during which time furniture was reportedly vandalized but in which no one was injured.
Police, who have opened an investigation into whether the gathering violated right of assembly laws, say they filed three reports on property damage and trespassing charges.
Demonstrators crash Merz rally in Dresden
Thousands of demonstrators also gathered in the eastern German city of Dresden to voice their anger. Merz was in the city for a campaign rally ahead of Germany’s upcoming February 23 election.
Protesters marched through the streets of the city chanting, “Shame On You!” and “Friedrich Merz is a security risk for our democracy.”
For his part, Merz demanded Social Democrat and Green Party leaders, “call for moderation, for restraint. And for us in the political center of our country to reach agreement on the key issues that we have to discuss and decide together.”
The opposition leader said, “part of our freedom is the right to demonstrate, but those who are blocking trams, damaging CDU district offices and paralyzing the (CDU headquarters at) Adenauer House in Berlin are overdoing it.”
Merz says something must be done about immigration
With immigration and the economy the biggest issues on voters minds ahead of the coming election, Merz has been accused of playing politics with Germany’s democracy.
He has insisted, however, that it is not his fault that he was dependent upon a party that has been labeled by intelligence services as extreme in part, to pass harsher immigration laws.
His push came on the heels of another deadly attack by an individual who was supposed to have been deported to Afghanistan yet remained in Germany.
On Friday, the Bundestag will debate and vote on a further CDU/CSU draft migration legislation bill.
Unlike Wednesday’s bill, the legislation to be taken up on Friday would be legally binding, though it must be approved by the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, before it becomes law.
js/zc (AFP, dpa)
