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The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) issued a radical manifesto for Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday as parties ramp up campaigning for the closely watched state election in September.<\/p>\n
The AfD adopted the manifesto at a state party conference in Magdeburg.<\/p>\n
On the issue of migration, the manifesto calls hardline policies through a “deportation and remigration offensive.”<\/p>\n
However, many migration issues in Germany cannot be regulated at the level of individual states.<\/p>\n
That limitation is reflected in the programme\u2019s language stating the party would seek to push such measures through the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, in Berlin.<\/p>\n
The AfD also seeks to terminate state broadcasting agreements. Under the proposal, public funding would be conditional on what the party describes as a “credible commitment to the democratic order and a patriotic mindset.”<\/p>\n
AfD state deputy leader Hans-Thomas Tillschneider said during the presentation of the programme that children do not need anti-racism training, but self-defence courses.<\/p>\n
Several hundred people joined protests against the AfD state party conference across Magdeburg, a police spokeswoman told dpa.<\/p>\n
The party is expected to post big gains in the election in Saxony-Anhalt, with opinion polls recently putting it at around 40%, well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU party at roughly 25%. The vote is set for September 6.<\/p>\n
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD\u2019s candidate to become state premier, struck a confident tone at the conference, calling for an outright majority so the party could govern alone.<\/p>\n
“Everything is possible, we just have to do it,” Siegmund told the party faithful in Magdeburg, dismissing concerns about an AfD-led government as “nonsense.”<\/p>\n
“There is no reason for any law-abiding citizen to be afraid. There\u2019s no bulldozer rolling through the country flattening everything,” he added.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s domestic intelligence agency has classified the party\u2019s regional branch as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization.<\/p>\n
Current state premier Sven Schulze, of the CDU, has ruled out forming a coalition with the AfD \u2014 a political taboo in Germany.<\/p>\n
If the AfD falls short of an outright majority in Saxony-Anhalt, forming a government could prove complex, with a CDU-led alliance likely requiring three or more parties to exclude the AfD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n