Germany's next chancellor needs to form a coalition quickly. Why his party says AfD is not an option
CDU party exec David McAllister says the far-right AfD, despite winning 2nd place, are a ‘danger for security’
Friedrich Merz is set to become Germany's next chancellor, but he has a long road ahead of him to form government and hold onto power.
Merz heads up the CDU/CSU, a centre-right political alliance between his party, the Christian Democratic Union, and its sister party, the Christian Social Union.
The CDU/CSU took first place in Sunday's election with 28.5 per cent of the vote, but did not earn enough seats in parliament to form a majority. To do that, it will need to form a coalition with another party.
That doesn't leave Merz with many options. His party has ruled out any collaboration with the second-place winners, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won 20.8 per cent of the vote, its best result yet, according to provisional results.
Instead, he has reached out to the third-place, centre-left Social Democratic Party — which was governing in a coalition until late last year — in the hopes of forming a centrist alliance.
David McAllister, a member of the CDU's party executive, says it's imperative to negotiate a coalition government quickly and get to work, especially after an election that saw boosts for both the AfD and the far-left party, simply called the Left.
McAllister is a member of the European Parliament, where he chairs the foreign affairs committee. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
How quickly do you think the kind of coalition that's necessary to govern Germany, but also stand up to the U.S. administration .... can come together?
CDU and CSU are the clear winners of this German election and Friedrich Merz is bound to be the next German chancellor. He has now the mandate to form a government. But of course, it will take some time.
Because first of all, we need to have some informal talks of an official coalition negotiation with the Social Democrats. But we'll need a new government sooner than later. That's why Friedrich Merz expressed his wish that perhaps before Easter, Germany could actually have a new government.
Is that timeline realistic?
Well, we had the board meeting of the German CDU today, and we know that Germany is facing enormous challenges when it comes to our economy, when it comes to security and defence and how to tackle irregular migration.
But the most important challenge is we need to restore confidence in our country and in our German democracy, because one-third of the votes on Sunday went to radical extreme parties from the far right and the far left. That is very concerning.
You've said that it's your wish that the CDU join up with the Social Democratic Party, which was reduced to a third-place finish yesterday. What would you say to German voters who are not concerned by the rise of the AfD ... [and] would rather see you partner with them?
The coalition between the CDU-CSU and the Social Democrats is the only viable option because it wouldn't be enough for us to have a coalition with the Greens. And we have been very clear that we will not form any kind of coalition government with the AfD.
The AfD is a right-wing, extreme party. They are pro-[Russian President Vladimir] Putin, against NATO, against the European Union. They are questioning the fundamentals of the Federal Republic of Germany. These people are not, in any kind of way, our potential partners.
The AfD's deputy parliamentary leader [Beatrix von Storch] spoke with BBC News.... She says you have a lot in common, in fact, [and] that the CDU took their policies on key issues.
[That's] a typical example of AfD propaganda. This is their line they repeat again and again. And it's simply not true. We had our very own agenda. We had our very own manifesto.
And I want to explain this to people in Canada. The AfD are very close to Mr. Putin. They are actively pro-Russian [and] anti-Ukrainian. They are a danger for security and defence in Europe. We don't want to have anything to do with these people at all.
What do you think accounts for the result, the rise in the AfD, in your country? You won the election, but not with the mandate you'd hoped for. So how would you explain to listeners what is happening there for that party to gain ground, and among young people as well?
Yes, indeed. One-third of Germans voted for political parties who are, to the right and to the left, extreme.
What these parties have in common is they are giving very simple answers to very complex questions. And this, of course, doesn't work in politics.
As the parties of the political centre in Germany, we have to solve the problems. We have to tackle the issues. And the main driver for the AfD in this campaign was, of course, irregular migration. The numbers are too high and here the numbers have to come down, and this will be one of the main challenges for the next coalition government in Berlin, that's for sure.
What would you say to voters who voted AfD — young voters, in particular — or who are responsible for the bump that the Left party got? What would you say to them? Because they don't like what you're serving. They haven't liked what you're serving for a while.
That's why we have to tackle the problems. We have to deliver solutions.
I'm very sure if we bring the German economy back on track, if we bring the numbers dramatically down when it comes to irregular migration, and when we stand up for security and freedom in Germany and in Europe, then the whole business model of the AfD will collapse. Because in the end, this party is just playing on the fears of the German people.
Will the Social Democratic Party come on board, though, with the kind of changes you want to make on those files?
This is the only coalition option we have in the moment. If these coalition talks fail, then we would probably have to have new elections in Germany. And you can't do that in a democracy. The people have spoken. The people have delivered us a rather complicated result.
We are ready, as CDU-CSU, to pick up our share of responsibility. But we call also on the Social Democrats, with whom we've been in coalition governments before, to also pick up their part of the responsibility.
We know exactly that the situation isn't easy for the Social Democrats. They had a terrible defeat yesterday. But still, we are ready to sit down with them, to have informal talks. And then let's work on a coalition program for the next four years so we can get Germany back on track.
Just finally, David, you know, this is of course, as you well know, the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. What assurances, if any, are you and your party prepared to give Ukrainians today?
The brave Ukrainian women and men are not only defending their own territorial sovereignty and integrity; they are defending free Europe.
That's why it's very important that whatever happens now as regards … possible peace negotiation, it has to be, in the end, a just and sustainable peace with security guarantees for Ukraine.
Nothing can be decided about Ukraine without Ukraine. And, also, nothing can be decided about the future of Europe without the European Union and other important European allies sitting around the table.
This has been a clear message also to the U.S, administration in Washington.
With files from Reuters. Interview produced by Chloe Shantz-Hilkes
