German Voters in Thuringia Democratically Elect a Candidate From the Populist Alternative für Deutschland Party

Democracy is when you want what the late-stage liberal system wants to give you, and the system gives it to you. If you don’t want what the system wants to give you, your preferences are undemocratic and the system gives it to you anyway. You’re free to protest the things the system hates, but if you protest the system or any of its agenda, that’s undemocratic and you’ll be water cannoned to protect democracy. You’re free to believe in the principles espoused by late-stage liberal democratic politicians, but if you dispute them, you’re a danger to the free world and should be arrested.

These blunt truths, revealed as never before in the Corona era, have been proven yet again in local elections in Thuringia, where voters in the district of Sonneberg have voted the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) candidate Robert Sesselmann to the office of Landrat – the first time a member of this populist right-leaning political party has achieved top municipal office. Although the AfD have more support than the government-leading SPD, they’ve been blocked from major electoral victories until now by a prearranged cordon sanitaire. {snip}

State media and the entire allegedly democratic political establishment are up in arms about the danger that this entirely democratic electoral result poses for democracy.

From tageschau, among the worst of the lot:

The AfD has achieved top municipal office for the first time in Sonneberg, Thuringia. Experts see this as a turning point. They say it is becoming increasingly difficult to campaign against the right-wing populists or to win elections against them in eastern Germany. {snip}

According to Matthias Quent, an extremism researcher from Magdeburg, Sesselmann’s victory has “symbolic value of nationwide significance … The real possibilities for a district administrator in a district with 54,000 inhabitants are limited, but this win gives the AfD a central position for advancing further in state and federal politics.” Additionally, the election results confirm the “extreme course of right-wing radicalisation” adopted AfD state leader Björn Höcke …

Green Party leader Ricarda Lang has interpreted the result as a warning to all supporters of democracy. Sesselmann had campaigned primarily against the policies of the coalition federal government – with energy and refugee policies a primary focus. The Thuringian SPD state chair Georg Maier also blamed unstable political conditions in the state for the outcome of the district council election. …. Robert Sesselmann’s win is an alarm signal for democracy, said Martin Schirdewan, co-chairman of the Left Party… {snip}

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