Alternative Party Chairman: “Brexit” is also an option
23.01.2024
Alternative Party Chairman Wedel said in an interview with the media that the EU must carry out drastic reforms, otherwise Germany should follow the UK and hold a referendum on withdrawing from the EU. These remarks immediately aroused widespread discussion in Germany.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Since the establishment of the European Union, the number of member states has been increasing. So far, only the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the EU. But for Wedel, chairman of the German Alternative for Germany party, Britain is an example worth following for Germany.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Wedel talked about the AfD’s European policy. She said that Brexit is an option for the party. “Making a sovereign decision on whether to stay in the EU is an example that Germany should learn from.”
Wedel said that once the party takes power, it will advocate reform of the EU to eliminate the EU’s current “deficiencies in the democratic system,” including the EU’s excessive powers and limited sovereignty of member states. Wedel emphasized that if the reforms fail to achieve the desired results, then Germany should hold a referendum on whether to remain in the EU, as the United Kingdom did in 2016. “If reform is not possible, if we cannot restore the sovereignty of EU member states, then we should, like the UK, let the people decide.”
Referendum is not feasible in Germany
However, holding a referendum on whether to leave the European Union in Germany will not be easy. According to the German Basic Law, Germany does not have the option of holding a referendum across Germany. Referendums can only be used when redrawing the boundaries of existing federal states. Wedel also said in the interview that the AfD will not come to power before 2029, that is, before the next federal election.
Wedel’s statement has aroused the alarm of the federal government. Franziska Brantner, State Secretary of the Green Party at the German Ministry of Economic Affairs, said:“The AfD clearly wants to make a decision on Brexit which is shaking the very foundations of our happy life.“For us as an exporting country, the EU internal market is vital to our economic success, and the AfD’s plan will cause serious harm to our economy, businesses and jobs market,” she said.
Over the weekend, large-scale anti-rightist rallies broke out in many German cities. The picture shows the rally scene in Munich.
Anti-rightist wave sweeping Germany
This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Germany.Hold rallies and marches against the far right and in defense of democratic institutions. Previously, the media exposed a meeting held by German far-right forces in Potsdam. According to reports, the issues discussed by the far-right people at the time included so-called “re-immigration” measures for immigrants in Germany.
The latest polls show that the large-scale protests sweeping Germany have had an impact on the AfD’s public support: the AfD’s support dropped by 1.5% from the last poll, but is still 21.5%. This is the party’s biggest drop in public support in two years. However, the ruling coalition did not benefit from this: the Social Democratic Party’s support rate was only 13.5%, the Green Party only 12.5%, and the Liberal Democratic Party 5%.
However, while the AfD’s poll indicators are declining, the number of party members continues to increase. A spokesman for the Alternative Party said that from January 10 to 22 this year, the party received a total of 1,400 applications for membership, while during the same period, only dozens of people quit the party. The party currently has a total of 41,000 members. Currently, the CDU and CSU have the highest support rate in Germany, with a support rate of 30.5%, and the AfD ranks second.
(DPA, Der Spiegel, Berliner Zeitung)
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2024-01-23 12:01:09
