In Merz’s Germany, democracy is optional when voters choose AfD
In Merz’s Germany, with its “sanitary cordon” against Alternative for Germany (AfD), democracy is optional. The popular will expressed at the ballot box, apparently, is not decisive when it favors the sovereignist option.
Thus, in a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Bad Salzuflen, the establishment parties (the Christian Democrats, CDU; the Social Democrats, SPD; and the Greens) have removed from office a deputy mayor who was democratically elected just two weeks ago. The reason is simply that she represents the AfD.
The establishment parties annulled Sabine Reinknecht’s election in a municipal session, which she summarized in these words: “Today and here, democracy has been buried.” “A fatal signal for our city, for respect toward voters, and for political culture as a whole,” agreed the local AfD section.
The chosen excuses, unconvincing as they are, matter little: the law does not require councils to provide any reason when presenting a motion to remove a deputy mayor. In fact, the arguments cited are as peculiar as claiming she “might scare away tourists,” as if she were a dangerous animal escaped from the zoo. They also referred to Reinknecht’s comments on social media, which were interpreted as, you guessed it, “racist.”
In statements to Junge Freiheit, Reinknecht expressed her bewilderment: “I was elected in a secret ballot with 16 votes, a figure significantly higher than the AfD seats in the municipal assembly. This proves that my work and conduct are valued by everyone, regardless of political affiliation.” She added: “The fact that they now want to reverse this result has nothing to do with my behavior, but only with partisan tactics. It seems that, for some, democracy only works when the outcome matches their expectations.”
In the local press, in desperation, they found another justification for this intolerable arbitrariness. Thus, the Lippische Wochenzeitung explained last Monday that the assembly had long wanted to reduce the number of deputy mayors to two. That they applied the reform just after a sovereignist victory is only a curious coincidence. To make matters worse, the newspaper called the council’s decision “a clear signal in favor of democracy, diversity, respect, and responsible political cooperation with this joint measure.”
