In a passionate debate in parliament, center-left lawmakers warned that the conservative acceptance of far-right support would badly scar Germany’s democracy.
“The original sin will follow you forever,” Rolf Mützenich, parliamentary leader for the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), warned conservatives. He then urged Merz and his allies to change course and reject the AfD’s help. “The gates of hell, we can still close together,” he said.
Twelve conservative lawmakers rejected the bill or abstained, revealing a deep rift within Merz’s alliance and embarrassing the candidate at a critical time in the campaign. Earlier this week, Merz’s conservative predecessor, former chancellor Angela Merkel, condemned his decision to accept far-right support.
“I consider it wrong to abandon this commitment and, as a result, to knowingly allow a majority with AfD votes in the Bundestag for the first time,” Merkel said in a statement.
In parliament, Merz defended his decision, arguing that the government had lost control of migration policy and that mainstream parties needed to act, no matter who supported the legislation. “People outside don’t want us to argue among ourselves about the AfD,” he said. “They want us to find solutions.”
At the same time, Merz used the kind of inflammatory rhetoric often employed by the AfD, referring to a series of violent attacks perpetrated by immigrants, such as the attack on a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, and knife attack in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg earlier this month.
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