Kiess: Parties must get back into constructive mode

Looking ahead instead of licking wounds: Leipzig sociologist and political scientist Johannes Kiess has advised the losers of the European and local elections in Saxony to get back on track quickly. The election results cannot be transferred one-to-one to the state elections on September 1st, he told the German Press Agency on Monday. "A lot depends on how the democratic parties behave now. Just pointing the finger at the AfD won't help much. The parties must switch back to constructive mode."

According to Kiess, Deputy Director of the Else-Frenkel-Brunswik Institute for Democracy Research at the University of Leipzig, the disunity of the coalition government is a major problem. "If you represent your own positions, then attention will also be drawn away from the AfD. The democratic parties have offers. They're just not getting through at the moment." Overall, the political situation is becoming more confusing. Many small parties also scored points in the European elections. "The party spectrum is becoming increasingly differentiated. Politics has a hard time in times of crisis, makes mistakes and makes it even harder as a result."

The AfD did well nationwide, but nowhere near as well as was feared at the beginning of the year after the polls, said Kiess. In eastern Germany, however, the results were strong. "This shows that parts of the population have probably given up on democracy. They are voting for the AfD out of principle, out of full awareness. That is a clear rejection of democracy. Ten more scandals can come up with the AfD, it won't change the attitude of their voters."