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Once again, the AfD broke the taboos, once again the outrage is great, and again one idea remains: the strategy of the right seems to be working.
An analysis of Ariane Reimers, ARD capital studio
Three days in the headlines, three days of discussion in the Bundestag, three days of attention. The AfD has done it again. With his usual and calculated breaking of taboos, he occupies politics and the media, thus setting the agenda. The AfD is there, noisy, it does not need anything else, the excitement for the game is a kind of proof of work for itself and its supporters.
The pattern is always the same. First the provocation, then the appeasement, the backward rowing, alleged corrections. Pictures for social networks have been made for a long time, sounds are broadcast, events are broadcast. On their own AfD channels, of course, they rank accordingly. And when journalists report in detail and politicians and parties get upset and upset, supporters only feel confirmed. “Tu AfD” dared, resisted, stuck a finger in the wound.
AfD Strategy
This week, the AfD managed to implement its strategy in many ways: the demonstration in front of the Bundestag against the change in the Infection Protection Law on Wednesday was supported by the AfD, and one of its MPs even spoke with Hansjörg Müller at the event. He shoots the crown deniers story that democracy is being abolished. And he is applauded for it.
MP Karsten Hilse is temporarily detained because he was not wearing a mask. Now he presents himself as a victim of police violence. In the Bundestag, AfD deputies hold up posters during the debate, a calculated violation of house rules, which the parliamentary group agreed to the day before. The media prominently displays the image of the Basic Law with black tape.
The discussion takes a backseat
The choice of words of the AfD and its supporters, the change in the law is an “enabling law”, it triggers backlash from other parties. The actual content, a discussion about health protection, takes a backseat. With his provocation, the AfD finally managed to hijack the debate. Meanwhile, people invited by AfD MPs roam the Bundestag, insult MPs and film them against their will, break into offices and broadcast live on the Internet.
The president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, speaks in a letter to all the members of the Bundestag of “very serious incidents”, in a current hour all the other parties condemn once again the behavior of the AfD as destroyer of democracy. Again everyone reports.
Now that the leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland, apologizes to the plenary session of the Bundestag, he had previously spoken of unacceptable behavior by the guests and held the invited MPs responsible. Interestingly, it was the AfD MPs who had sent out the invitations for the rioters who had invited influential people from the new right and media creators to the “Free Media Conference” in the Bundestag in early October. Both Petr Bystron and Udo Hemmelgarn have good connections in the far-right media scene from which the rioters come.
Pushing the limits of what can be said
One of the effects of breaking taboos is that the limits of what can be said, but also what is feasible, are constantly changing. Another who are driving the polarization of society. It is a strategy used by right-wing populist parties to achieve success around the world. Public outrage is the life insurance of the AfD, says political and communications adviser Johannes Hillje: “The AfD lives on opposition to all other parties in the Bundestag and not on cooperation with them, so this conflict ongoing is precisely the form of discourse that the AfD wants. “
In this sense, the week passed well from the AfD perspective: maximum attention, much applause from his own followers and stylization as a victim or a hero, depending on what is currently demanded.
