Germany's Merz attacks AfD in stormy debate after far-right election win

Image source, Getty Images/ReutersImage caption, Merz and Weidel faced off for the first time since Sunday's AfD election victoryByPaul KirbyEurope digital editorPublished36 minutes agoGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz has clashed with AfD leader Alice Weidel in parliament, calling her party a "destructive force" with a migration policy that amounts to "ethnic cleansing" for skilled workers.Merz was addressing the Bundestag in the aftermath of the anti-immigration party's sweeping victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt where it won almost 44% of the vote, while the chancellor's conservatives saw their vote halved.Weidel told MPs that voters had shown that Merz's coalition with the centre left was a total failure and his time was up.Merz hit back saying the AfD had harmed German interests by backing Russia, and its "remigration" policy would affect millions.It is not yet clear whether the party will be able to form a government or not in Saxony-Anhalt, having fallen three seats short of an outright majority. No far-right party has won power in any of Germany's 16 states since World War Two, and Merz has admitted the "seismic" result has changed Germany.The AfD's success has been praised by US President Donald Trump, who said "the Populist Party in Germany just had a really big night", linking the victory to "absolutely horrible immigration rules and regulations".The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt has been labelled as "right-wing extremist" by German domestic intelligence and the party has promised a "deportation and remigration" offensive targeting irregular migrants.Repeatedly heckled by AfD MPs, the chancellor told Weidel that one in six skilled workers had a migration background, and if her party had its way then its policy would amount to "nothing other than an ethnic cleansing in the skilled trades based on skin colour and origin".While the government understood some deportations were needed, he said it make a careful distinction between those who contributed to German prosperity and those without permanent residency.Disruption by AfD MPs became so loud that at one point Bundestag President Julia Klöckner threatened to start expelling people from the chamber: "We are not on a football pitch."Weidel said mass migration had left Germans with daily knife violence and attacks on trains and in stations, but Merz warned that the AfD's plans would mean that no single care home, hospital or restaurant could function.As leader of the main opposition party in the Bundestag, Weidel opened the session by telling Merz his Christian Democrats had been "pulverised" in Saxony-Anhalt, after winning 17.2% of the vote, and she accused his government with the Social Democrats of driving Germany towards bankruptcy.Merz said her party had not won an outright majority in Saxony-Anhalt and it would not achieve one in Germany. "You are and will remain a destructive force," he said, accusing the party of cheating the voters by saying before the election that their candidate for premier, Ulrich Siegmund, would only rule if he won a majority, but hours after the vote deciding to go and find one.The AfD has opened the door to working with another party, perhaps the left-wing populist BSW, as long as it backs Siegmund to be state premier.Siegmund's number two in Saxony-Anhalt, has even suggested that Merz's CDU could work with his party, if it abandons the so-called firewall (Brandmauer), under which no mainstream party will work with the far right.Related topicsFriedrich MerzAlternative for Germany (AfD)MigrationGermanyChristian Democratic Union (CDU)More on this storyGermany's far-right AfD says 'democracy demands' parties work with them after state election winPublished1 day agoHow significant are AfD's historic gains for Germany and the rest of Europe?Published2 days agoGermany's far-right AfD hails big victory in east, but falls short of majorityPublished2 days ago