State Election: Schwesig Says AfD’s “Power Fantasies” Must Be Stopped Together

“Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is not Saxony-Anhalt,” Manuela Schwesig told several hundred demonstrators in Schwerin. After the AfD’s election victory in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt, the state’s premier urged people to prevent the party from gaining power in her own state.

“We will stop the AfD’s power fantasies together. The AfD will not get our home,” Schwesig said at the rally, according to police estimates attended by several hundred people. She described the situation as “very, very serious,” arguing that Saxony-Anhalt showed the AfD had a real chance of coming to power.

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Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is not Saxony-Anhalt.

Schwesig also expressed solidarity with democratic forces in Saxony-Anhalt and thanked people who had spent weeks campaigning, as well as those who joined the spontaneous action. “What we absolutely do not need is this hatred, this incitement, this destruction that the AfD intends,” she said.

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We will stop the AfD’s power fantasies together. The AfD will not get our home.

The September 20 state election is approaching, and polls place the AfD ahead of Schwesig’s SPD, although the gap has recently narrowed. The “Zusammen bewegen” alliance called demonstrations in 12 towns, including Rostock, Greifswald, Ludwigslust, Parchim, Neubrandenburg and Neustrelitz, with more actions planned before election day.

The state’s public theaters are organizing communal singing in public places. Choirs, ensembles, artists, associations, visitors and residents will take part in events intended to emphasize cooperation among people living in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The theaters also said the campaign would draw attention to the importance of artistic freedom.

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What we absolutely do not need is this hatred, this incitement, this destruction that the AfD intends.