The AfD in office: when election promises meet local political reality

Democracy under pressure - The AfD in office: when election promises meet local political reality

It almost seems as if all the hype is too much for Tim Lochner. Surrounded by photographers and cameramen, the 53-year-old master carpenter stands in the rooms of the AfD district association of Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains and gives his first interview as the designated mayor of Pirna. In the presence of his cheering supporters, Lochner promises that he will persevere and remain at the helm of the town hall for seven years.

Lochner is to become the first mayor for the AfD in Germany, even though he is not a party member. The clear vote for him in the election on December 17 is also remarkable because the Saxon state association of the AfD was recently classified as "definitely right-wing extremist" by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The constitution protection agencies in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt came to the same conclusion earlier with regard to the state parties there. However, the party also won top municipal offices there.

Radicalization of the AfD apparently does not deter voters

Since then, the question has arisen as to whether the AfD is becoming the norm in Germany's political landscape. In polls for state elections in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, it is now polling more than 30 percent. In Saxony and Thuringia, it is already dreaming of higher consecrations. "We want to govern in Saxony," said the Saxon AfD leader Jörg Urban on election night in Pirna. Lochner has shown that this is possible.

In the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg, AfD politician Robert Sesselmann has been district administrator for almost six months. He rarely speaks to the press and once again declined a request from the German Press Agency for an interview - "due to time constraints", according to a spokesperson for the district. Sesselmann's victory in the district council election was the AfD's first major success in the race for a top municipal office. In Thuringia of all places, where the AfD state association with its chairman Björn Höcke is considered to be particularly right-wing.

The radicalization of the AfD does not deter voters, says psychologist Fiona Kalkstein, deputy director of the Else Frenkel Brunswik Institute at Leipzig University, who primarily researches anti-democratic attitudes. "The more right-wing extremist the AfD has become, the more successful it has been. We have no deterrent effect at all, rather the opposite. You could almost say that right-wing extremism is a recipe for success for the AfD."

AfD district councillor Sesselmann has not yet kept his promises

The AfD campaigned in Sonneberg with demands that a district administrator can never implement, such as the abolition of the euro or broadcasting fees. Six months after Sesselmann's election, people in the small district still pay in euros and continue to transfer broadcasting fees. The refugees are also not yet housed "where fox and hare pass each other without greeting", as his AfD party colleague Stefan Möller had outlined Sesselmann's options as district administrator.

After his election, Sesselmann had announced that he wanted to consolidate the budget of the chronically cash-strapped district. He wanted to make savings, for example, on a program to promote democracy and prevent extremism. Sesselmann wanted to cut the district's own contribution of 35,000 euros, as several members of the district council agreed. The responsible committee prevented this. It would have fitted in well with the AfD's program. Höcke recently announced at a state party conference that he would end the "fight against the right" if he became prime minister of Thuringia.

Erfurt political scientist André Brodocz explains that district councillors and mayors are embedded in local parliamentary structures where other parties are also represented. "That's why I don't expect any major changes."

Like Sesselmann, AfD politician Hannes Loth also switched from state politics to local politics. In the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz in Saxony-Anhalt, the former member of the state parliament was elected Germany's first full-time AfD mayor in July 2023. He ran with five election promises: He wanted to better equip the fire and rescue services, reduce or keep taxes and fees stable for citizens, improve the quality of life for residents and create jobs and more opportunities for citizen participation.

In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur around 100 days after taking office, Loth said that he had reorganized the budget, provided a new fire engine and improved municipal cooperation. As "Der Spiegel" recently reported, Loth appears to be well integrated in his environment.

But Loth has also arrived in the reality of local politics. Contrary to his election promises, it was not possible to reduce administrative costs in Raguhn-Jeßnitz, says the mayor. But that's not a disaster. "We had a cost comparison carried out and found that we are in a very good position."

Things often work differently in municipalities

Political scientist Brodocz says: "At a municipal level, you will have the experience of winning elections with promises that you can't actually make to the state." However, it is far from certain that this will get through to the voters. "It's never completely certain that this will have a negative effect on the outside world. It can also be completely attributed to the state government."

Sonneberg, Raguhn-Jeßnitz and Pirna - it is possible that even more AfD politicians will hold top municipal offices in 2024, as local elections are also due in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Will the CDU's much-invoked firewall to the AfD then hold? Because things often work differently in local authorities than at state or federal level. When it comes to the construction of a bus stop or the renovation of a daycare center, this sometimes requires cooperation between different political groups.

Being mayor of Raguhn-Jeßnitz is "above all a job in an administration, there are rules and procedures," says Saxony-Anhalt Minister President Reiner Haseloff (CDU), describing Loth's role. "But it is also a fact that the opportunities available to an AfD office holder are no different from those available to anyone else. They all have to struggle with the same realities, and the moment they come into such a position of responsibility, they realize that they simply cannot implement many of the promises they made to the people," said Haseloff.

Promises that he cannot keep do not dampen Loth's mood. He is satisfied with his first few weeks as mayor, he assures us that he has met with open ears. "We don't even need the AfD's tough core demands here. For example, when it comes to migration. We don't have them here at all."