September, 2021
Berlin — One of my hopes for the upcoming German elections is that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is dislodged from its place as the leading opposition party in the Bundestag. AfD is the wrong choice for Germany for many reasons, not the least of which are the party's neo-Nazi leanings.
The AfD should never have been given this prominent platform after the last elections. Had the centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP) joined into the governing coalition as it should have, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) would have taken the leading opposition role and the AfD would have been marginalized.
I'm hoping the Christian Democratic Party (CDU/CSU) takes the spot of the leading opposition party this time around. That would most likely result from a coalition to govern formed by the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP, which is feasible at this point. This would be the Ampelkoalition, or traffic-light government, named for the parties' colors: red, yellow, and green.
Or the SPD or the Greens could move into the leading opposition party, if they don't do quite as well as the polls now indicate. That would not be a terrible outcome. The SPD actually wanted that role after the last elections, rather than being the reluctant partner once again with the CDU/CSU.
Anybody but the AfD.
