Germany protests challenge AfD’s bid for state power
Organisers estimate about 150,000 people joined demonstrations calling for a ban on the far-right party after its strong result in Saxony-Anhalt.
About 150,000 people demonstrated across roughly 20 German cities on Saturday, according to organisers, calling for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) to be banned. Rallies were held in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich after the party’s strong performance in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election.
The demonstrations were organised by Pruef, a campaign group advocating an AfD ban, with Campact also involved. Campact estimated turnouts of about 25,000 in Hamburg and 12,000 in Munich, while police reported several thousand people at separate demonstrations in Berlin.
The AfD held a counter-rally in Berlin attended by Kristin Brinker, its lead candidate for the city’s upcoming regional election.
The protests followed the AfD’s win of nearly 44 per cent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September, well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, which won roughly 17 per cent. The AfD is projected to hold 39 of the state parliament’s 83 seats, leaving it three short of a majority.
The party is negotiating with other parties and MPs to form a state government, but mainstream parties have rejected cooperation under Germany’s longstanding “firewall” against governing with the AfD. The party has not previously joined a governing coalition at state or national level.
Calls for a formal ban have grown as the AfD’s influence has expanded, but such a move would face significant legal and political hurdles. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been reluctant to pursue one.
