Immigration hurt my party- Germany Leader admits

Could the success of a far-right party in
Germany's local elections be a harbinger of
things to come?
The Sunday contest was viewed by many as a
referendum on Chancellor Angela Merkel's
immigration policy, and her party suffered a
significant defeat on her home turf.
Merkel admitted Monday that decisions on
immigration played a role in the result, but
insisted that she has made the right ones.
Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, defeated the
Christian Democratic Union -- Merkel's party -- in
local elections in the state of Mecklenburg-
Vorpommern, coming in second behind the
Social Democratic Party, according to exit polls.
AfD was only formally founded in April 2013, yet
it defeated the CDU in the German chancellor's
home state.
Although AfD has performed strongly in several
other regional elections, most notably coming in
second with 24% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt in
March, it's an unprecedented moment in modern
German politics that the CDU is set to finish
behind a party so far to its right on most issues.
The preliminary results indicate the Social
Democratic Party won 30.6%, Alternative für
Deutschland took 20.8% and the Christian
Democratic Union got 19%.
A referendum on refugees
In an interview with CNN Monday, AfD party
leader Frauke Petry interpreted the party's
success in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as a
personal defeat for Merkel.
Petry suggested that with her party gaining
across the country, the Christian Democratic
Union is "falling apart" and said it's time for
Germany to close its borders.
"We see the political climate changes towards
AfD and against the established parties,
especially the Christian Democrats, Angela
Merkel's party -- 21 percent in the northeast of
Germany is an absolutely brilliant result," Petry
told CNN.
"The CDU is falling apart, but not only up there,"
she added. "We see that in many regions of
Germany where the CDU bases, the party bases,
don't agree with Merkel's policy anymore.
"We want that the German government closes
German borders to illegal migration... We don't
want a new border in Germany. But we need
controlled borders. We need a change of
legislation on a German level, but also an EU
level, to avoid illegal migration."
Merkel has stood firm on Germany's position of
accepting nearly all asylum seekers found to be
legitimate refugees. Germany took in more than
1 million refugees in 2015, making it the most
open country in Europe to asylum seekers.
Merkel admits there's a lot to do
Responding to the preliminary results from the
weekend vote, Merkel -- who is in China at the
G20 summit -- told reporters she was
"dissatisfied with the outcome of the elections."
She admitted that "many people do not have our
confidence regarding the refugee question."
After a series of terrorist attacks in July, Merkel
refused to back down on her immigration policy,
which she has termed a moral responsibility,
especially to people fleeing the horror of civil
war in Syria.
Monday the Chancellor insisted the decisions
made on how to handle the refugee crises were
correct, but acknowledged: "We still have to do a
lot to regain our (party's) confidence."
Not a disaster, but of concern
Experts say the results don't mean there's a
looming disaster for Merkel in next year's
election if she chooses to run -- the AfD would
likely have trouble forming a coalition with more
traditional political parties -- but they do signal
some concerns for Merkel.
Politico's senior European Union correspondent,
Ryan Heath, said analysts believe Merkel still has
an overwhelming likelihood of winning the
national elections in 2017. However, these
predictions are based largely on the national
weakness of the Social Democrats, currently the
junior partner in the coalition government.
Rise of the right
Formally founded in April 2013, AfD was set up
by academics disgruntled by Merkel's eurozone
crisis management -- most notably the Greek
bailouts. However, AfD mutated into a more
nationalist party that strongly opposed rising
immigration levels -- particularly of people from
Muslim countries.
Heath noted that the growing strength of the
populist, anti-immigrant AfD mirrored similar
parties in France, Poland and Hungary as well
the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the
rise of Donald Trump as the Republican
presidential nominee in the United States.


Source :cnn
Edited by DANIEL IKECHUKWU EKWUNIFE