German lawmakers shout “shame on you” as ‘firewall’ crumbles

BERLIN – Germany’s Christian Democrats passed a parliamentary motion on migration with support from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Wednesday, undermining the country’s ‘firewall’ against the far right.

The leader of the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) Friedrich Merz had announced last Friday that his party would push to pass non-binding motions “regardless of who votes in favour of them”, in reaction to a fatal attack in Aschaffenburg. An Afghan national who arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of murder following the attack.

Merz’s push was widely seen as a breach with convention. Germany’s metaphorical ‘firewall’ traditionally forecloses targeted cooperation between established German parties and the far right, but it is also highly contentious to push through legislation if far-right votes make the difference in favour of it.

While it had been unclear whether the two CDU/CSU motions would muster enough votes, the main proposal ended up passing on Wednesday afternoon by just four: 348 to 344, with ten abstentions. 

Support had come from the CDU/CSU, the AfD, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), and some independent MPs, which marked the first time in the history of the modern German parliament that a proposal passed solely thanks to AfD support. The second motion was rejected.

SPD lawmakers shouted “shame on you” in the direction of Merz and the CDU/CSU after the result was announced.

The opportunity for rogue majorities had arisen due to the absence of a government majority after Scholz’s coalition had broken down, reducing it to a minority government.

Merz had said that he did not want the support of the AfD, but argued in a speech prior to the vote that he would rather accept that than the status quo in Germany’s migration policy, which he described as partially responsible for the attack.

His motion calls on the government to make Germany’s border controls permanent and to turn all asylum seekers away at the border, amongst other things.

‘An historic moment’

The CDU/CSU had “left the political centre of this house,” said Rolf Mützenich, the parliamentary leader of the SPD, after the vote.

The vote would “go down in the history of this country”, he said, which came only a few hours after the parliament had commemorated the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

“When you look at the faces of the AfD, you realise what has happened today, and you are responsible for it,” Britta Haßelmann, the parliamentary leader of the Greens, told Merz.

Merz defended himself, saying he was “not seeking majorities in this house other than those in the democratic centre.”

“If there has been [a different] majority today, I regret that,” he told lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the AfD celebrated the vote as “an historic moment.”

“Mister Merz, you have helped bring that about,” said the party’s chief whip, Bernd Baumann.

[OM]