Free Voters and AfD: no political cooperation

Following ambiguous statements made by Saxony's leading Free Voter candidate Matthias Berger about a possible rapprochement with the AfD, the federal chairman of the Free Voters, Hubert Aiwanger, has ruled out political cooperation between his party and the right-wing populists. "Political cooperation with the AfD will not happen, but would be sanctioned by the federal party," said Aiwanger when asked by the German Press Agency. "We have a clear resolution on this."

Berger had recently failed to clearly distinguish himself from the AfD and questioned a "firewall" to the party, which has been classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony as definitely right-wing extremist. "The discussion is superfluous. There used to even be an AfD/SPD parliamentary group in Grimma. As long as people move within the framework of democracy, a good idea remains a good idea," he said.

Saxons are 70 percent conservative, and normally the CDU, AfD and Free Voters should work together, said Berger. "For us, values such as family, performance and reliability count. The solution does not lie in slogans. Being conservative means preserving the tried and tested. That's what we stand for."

The federal chairman of the Free Voters, Aiwanger, also demanded a clear commitment from the CDU/CSU not to work with the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance. "The hardcore communists are getting involved again," Aiwanger told dpa. He blamed "misguided mass immigration" under CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel for the polarization in society.