More of the Same: Merkel Heir Merz Says No Coalition with AfD Despite Immigration Common Ground

The leader of the centrist Christian Democratic Union doubled down on his vow not to form a coalition with the populist-sovereigntist Alternative for Germany as he squared off with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an election debate Sunday evening, meaning German voters are likely in store for continued establishment governance.

After appearing to upend political norms in Berlin by joining with the AfD — albeit on a non-binding vote on migration — in the Bundestag last month, CDU leader and likely future chancellor Friedrich Merz said per NTV that “cooperation will not exist” between his centre-right faction and the populist party.

Merz was joined on stage by current Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the leftist Social Democrats (SPD), whose ‘traffic light’ coalition government with the climate radical Greens and the corporatist Free Democrats (FDP) collapsed in November just hours after the election of Donald Trump in the United States over concerns that the weak government in Berlin would not be up to task to take on a more confident White House than the weak-kneed Biden administration.

Scholz accused opposition leader Merz of “breaking his word” and “breaking his taboo” by joining forces with the AfD in the parliament to pass a motion for stricter migration controls. The vote marked the first time since the populist party was founded in 2013 that a motion was passed with its support, given that all establishment parties had previously agreed to a “firewall” around the AfD for supposedly being outside the bounds of acceptable political discourse in Germany.

The chancellor went on to express “concern” that after the February 23rd elections, the CDU boss would break his vow and form a coalition government with the AfD. Merz maintained that this would not happen, claiming that the two parties are “worlds apart on the factual issues.”

However, on actual policy issues, the AfD and the previously Angela Merkel-led Christian Democrats are closely aligned on economic issues and migration, with both parties backing strict border controls and the removal of illegals from Germany.

While much has been made about the AfD’s call for “remigration”, which leftists have claimed means that Germany would seek the removal of second and third-generation migrants with German citizenship, the party’s election platform states that “remigration” would be confined to “people without the right to stay” in the country.

Despite appearing to have more in common with the AfD on issues like migration than Scholz’s SPD, with even Merz lambasting the chancellor during the debate for allowing in two million illegals under his watch and Sholz, in turn, calling Merz’s proposed curbs “stupid,” it appears that Merz is intent on forming a coalition with the very same leftist Social Democrats rather than working with the AfD, which is often likened by the establishment media and politicians to the National Socialists of Adolph Hitler.

The AfD, which is led by Alice Weidel, who is in a lesbian relationship with a woman from Sri Lanka, has strongly denied any similarity to the Nazis.

Merz has pinned his hopes on being able to pass migration restrictions with the SPD following the election, arguing that the leftist party will come to its senses and realise that it is the only way to prevent the rise of the AfD and a potential victory by the populist party in the 2029 elections.

Currently, the Alternative for Germany is second in the polls at around 20 per cent, having surpassed the governing SPD and only trailing the coalition “Union” of Merz’s CDU and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), which has around 28 per cent support.

According to a recent survey by ZDF, half of the public (50 per cent) believe Merz will form a coalition with a leftist party rather than the AfD after the February 23rd elections, compared to 43 per cent who think he will side with the AfD.

The mere hint of a possibility of a right-wing coalition government has led to hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets over the past week, with over 200,000 in Munich on Saturday.

However, despite the protests being portrayed as a genuine outpouring of opposition to a potential alliance, a report from the Bild newspaper claimed that the current left-wing government in Berlin funds many of the key organisers of the demonstrations with German taxpayer cash.

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