Election in Saxony-Anhalt | Saxony Anhalt's civil society is moving closer together

The day before the election, a militant civil society showed its presence en masse at a democracy festival in Magdeburg, organized by the Alliance Saxony-Anhalt Weltoffen. Photo: IMAGO/IPA Photo/Davide Elias "I'm still in shock," says Christoph Maier, managing director of the Evangelical Academy of Saxony-Anhalt. Together with the association Miteinander e.V. - Network for Democracy and Cosmopolitanism in Saxony-Anhalt, the state's refugee council and the non-commercial Radio Corax from Halle, the academy invited people to a press conference in Magdeburg on Monday.

The three civil society organizations and the church institution have one thing in common: they are on the “hit list” of the AfD, which had achieved the expected major victory in the state elections the evening before. With almost 44 percent, the extreme right-wing party became the strongest force in the new Saxony-Anhalt state parliament by a wide margin, ahead of the previously ruling CDU, which was far behind. The AfD had marked the four organizations as enemies in both the government program and the ten-point immediate program for the period after a government takeover, which it would use all means to end.

»Now is the hour for the democratic parties in the country. They must send a clear signal of a clear no to cooperation with the AfD.

Pascal Begrich from Miteinander e.V. stated that the AfD is aiming for a clear-cut in the “neuralgic social areas of flight and migration, education and democracy promotion”. She wants to cut off the affected institutions from any funding. Begrich's statement was an appeal to the other parties represented in the future state parliament. The AfD is a right-wing extremist party “whose ideological agenda is unparalleled in Europe.” It represents a massive threat to civil and migrant society. It is about nothing less than the defense of liberal democracy.

“Now is the hour for the democratic parties in the country,” warned Begrich. They must send “a clear signal for a clear no to cooperation with the AfD.” They are responsible for that. Now, Begrich continues, is also the hour for the friends of all democrats in Saxony-Anhalt: "We will need them to remain visible and audible." Anyone who now shows their face in volunteer work, as a teacher, trainer or social worker must "experience not being left alone."

»Human rights must not now become a bargaining chip. Not in coalition negotiations. Not in budget debates. Not in government practice. And not when dealing with refugees.”

Begrich quoted AfD leader Tino Chrupalla, who had announced a "cash collapse" the evening before and called on associations and NGOs to "freshen up" for the upcoming measures of an AfD government. This campaign, which was not only directed against Miteinander as an "important source of inspiration against the extreme right" in the course of the AfD election campaign, is exemplary of what is to come for other civil society players, warned Begrich.

Saaeid Saaeid, the spokesman for the Saxony-Anhalt Refugee Council, reported that fear is spreading among people with a migration and refugee history. After all, they have long been permanently stigmatized as a burden, problem and danger. Saaeid demanded that human rights should not be at issue and should not be viewed as a maneuvering tool in either coalition or budget negotiations. It is now the task of the democratic parties to ensure the protection of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

Christoph Maier admitted that he was perplexed by what was currently happening: he demanded that we could not return to “business as usual” now. With the joint press conference they also wanted to show that civil society is coming together. He is certain that anyone who thinks that the AfD would disenchant itself with political responsibility will be mistaken. After all, the AfD is not a party like any other, but a right-wing extremist with an “ethno-pluralistic agenda” that has now won the trust of a majority of people in the country. The term ethnopluralism describes an ideology according to which every “people” has a specific living space in which they should stay and not “mix” with others through migration.

"It's not the church that has become too political in this election campaign, but rather politics that has become too religious."

Maier conjured up a "small public" in everyday life, in the immediate environment and in the area, which he compared to the environmental libraries and the opposition movement in the GDR, which were once an "anchor of the peaceful revolution" in 1989. This “small public” had been lost to the AfD and it was important to win it back, he said. This is difficult precisely because the AfD is also successful with "quasi-religious promises of salvation": "It's not the church that has become too political in this election campaign, but rather politics that has become too religious. Where political convictions become confessions, affiliation takes the place of justification and contradiction only strengthens one's own beliefs, the character of the democratic public sphere changes radically.

Begrich announced that attempts would be made to maintain the work of the NGOs by replacing dwindling public funds with donations, supporting memberships and supra-regional foundation funds. However, he is clear that the protection of the work of civil society organizations cannot be ensured entirely through replacement financing.

The Left explicitly offered support for civil society and its organizations. The party's federal chairwoman, Ines Schwerdtner, said on Monday in Berlin: "We will offer a protective space." Thanks to many new members, the Left is also present in rural areas of Saxony-Anhalt and will remain so after the election, top candidate Eva von Angern promised at a joint press conference.

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