to THE AUSTRALIAN
The best result now for Germany, but it won’t happen, is for Angela Merkel to establish a coalition government with the Free Democrats and the Alternative for Germany. As you note in your editorial (‘A chastened Merkel soldiers on’, 26/9) ‘she must accept that Germany is not immune to anti-immigration sentiment’, and, that being so, any kind of partnership with the Greens just does not make sense.
A centre-right coalition could ensure that only reasonable and responsible policies are accepted from the AFD as a junior partner, and that Germany regains national pride and greater free speech without any danger of lapsing towards Nazi authoritarianism. That it won’t happen, and that all the other parties have officially shunned the AFD, suggests that there are one or more hidden, distorting factors in German politics.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic