Wwhat harms democracy? Omid Nouripour, the federal chairman of the Green Party, has an example: He speaks of colleagues in the Bundestag who look at him askance when he uses the first name of CDU politician Jens Spahn or hugs Left Party leader Janine Wissler. The friendly interaction with political opponents irritates them; they wish for more distance. Nouripour thinks this is wrong. He advocates dialogue between democrats, for arguments on equal terms instead of demarcation and rigid camp thinking.
It is one of the most pressing topics at the moment, discussed thousands of times on podiums, in talk shows and also in circles of friends and acquaintances: How can democracy be strengthened? How do you defend them against populist threats and right-wing extremists? How do you stop the AfD’s wave of success, which is also hoping to win votes in the Hesse state elections in October? This will be debated at an event organized by the Frankfurt Greens in the Gallus Theater on Tuesday evening. In addition to the party chairman from Frankfurt, extremism researcher Julian Junk, Carmen Colinas from the Association of Binational Families and Partnerships, Matthias Thoma, the director of the Eintracht Frankfurt Museum, and Friederike Haupt from the parliamentary editorial team of the FAZ in Berlin are sitting on the stage.
Adopting AfD positions is a “serious mistake”
It is not surprising that the discussion quickly turns to the AfD. The party’s recent successes in votes in the East and its good poll numbers are increasing concerns about “Trumpization”. Julian Junk, who heads the extremism resilience research center at the Hessian University for Public Management and Security, the state’s police college, still warns against alarmism. The scientists’ surveys did not show any drastic disenchantment with democracy among the population, which is why Junk would like to see more “calmness” in the discussion. However, he does mention dangers: debates today are becoming increasingly heated and one-sided, and social media is lowering inhibitions.
What can be countered? How do you convince people not to vote for populists and simplifiers? In any case, not with a ban on the AfD, Omid Nouripour is convinced. The Green Party leader calls the debate about this a “harmful discussion”. Even if the legal chance of banning the party would probably be better than that of the NPD, it would hardly win back AfD supporters. “With a ban we would be telling people to their faces: You are stupid,” says Nouripour. “That would be completely wrong.” Democrats should not freeze up in front of the AfD “like a rabbit before a snake”, but should try much harder to fight them with arguments. This is difficult because the AfD program is very vague, but it is still essential. Nouripour gives an example: “The AfD wants Germany to leave the EU. Nothing would destroy more prosperity in our country.”
When dealing with the AfD, Julian Junk believes that the “co-opting of positions”, i.e. the attempt to make the AfD smaller by adopting its viewpoints and populism, is a serious mistake. The CDU leader Friedrich Merz and the CSU chairman Markus Söder have been trying this again and again for some time – and in the end only help the AfD. “This strengthens the original, every study shows that,” says Junk.
Carmen Colinas points out that it is particularly difficult for black people and people with a migration background to remain calm in the face of the AfD’s successes. Matthias Thoma says that it is important that sports clubs also position themselves in political debates – as Eintracht President Peter Fischer has often done. Green Party leader Nouripour is self-critical: “People need to have the feeling that the state is working again.”
Friederike Haupt also sees citizens as having a duty to make democracy more stable. She believes that an ever-increasing “customer mentality” towards politics is dangerous. Too often the focus is not on the common good, but rather on personal benefit. “It shouldn’t be the case that everyone judges politics solely based on their needs,” says Haupt. “In a democracy, citizens not only have rights, but also duties.”
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