The right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is the only party that not only will but even can speak honestly about migration ahead of the Cologne elections, after all other parties pledged only to address the positives.
The CDU, SPD, Greens, FDP, Left Party, Volt, and Die Partei have all signed a so-called “fairness agreement” at the initiative of the “Cologne Round Table for Integration” association. AfD officials were not even approached, which was no doubt for the best.
The agreement’s signatories must “not campaign at the expense of people with a migrant background living among us,” and also may not hold migrants “responsible for negative social developments such as unemployment or threats to internal security.”
More importantly, the gagging agreement paints a sorry picture of the state of German democracy and reveals that establishment politicians care little for the issues that dominate the political minds of their voters.
Writing in Cicero, Felix Huber said: “It couldn’t be clearer to citizens that their concerns are merely a nuisance” to the mainstream parties.
Even CDU officials have hit back against the effective silencing order, including Ralph Kamphöner, who noted that “if one does not openly discuss problems in a democracy, one is doing no one a favor—except for the polarising forces at the edges of the political spectrum.”
Wenn man in einer Demokratie Probleme nicht offen diskutiert, tut man niemandem einen Gefallen – außer den polarisierenden Kräften an den Rändern des politischen Spektrums.
And political scientist Werner Patzelt bashed those who have signed the agreement over their “weak-minded” and “tactically stupid” position.
Elections will take place in North Rhine-Westphalia, of which Cologne is a part, on September 14th.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
