Germany's far-right AfD says it is 'ready' to take advantage of political stalemate

Exclusive: AfD's Berlin campaign chief says collapse of coalition talks shows Ms Merkel has overstayed her welcome as Chancellor

Angela Merkel said she would prefer another election rather than endure political stalemate (Reuters)

Germany’s traditional parties risk handing further gains to the country’s resurgent far-right movement if they cannot find a way out of the current political crisis.

Weeks of coalition talks collapsed in spectacular fashion on Sunday when the liberal Free Democrats walked out of negotiations with Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance and the Greens, possibly paving the way for fresh elections.

There are fears a new vote would play into the hands of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), which sent shockwaves across Europe by becoming Germany’s third biggest political force in September’s election.

Speaking in an interview with The Independent on Tuesday, AfD’s campaign chief in Berlin, Goetz Froemming, said if new elections are called, “we will be ready”.

The issue of immigration, which so played to AfD’s strengths two months ago, has again been the undoing of coalition talks. Specifically, Ms Merkel and her would-be allies failed to agree on the matter of family reunions for refugees.

For Mr Froemming, now an AfD member of parliament in the capital, this was a clear sign of the failure of Ms Merkel’s open-policy and enough to see the Chancellor stand down.

“Historically, big rulers have failed to recognise when their time is over. Ms Merkel may think this country cannot go on without her but this is a historic moment and she should be passing the baton to someone else,” he said.

Mr Froemming welcomed a fresh national poll “if it is the only way to get rid of Angela Merkel”. But not wanting to seem too keen, he added: “This is not a good situation for our country and I am not sure new elections will change anything.”

Germany’s establishment certainly seems intent on avoiding a new ballot. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President who is tasked with overseeing the formation of a new government, demanded parties take their responsibilities seriously and “make the formation of a new government possible in the foreseeable future”.

Ms Merkel said herself on Sunday that she would rather a fresh vote than rule with a minority government. But her right-hand man Peter Altmaier, head of the chancellery and acting finance minister, set a three-week deadline on Tuesday for political parties to come to terms.

Stefan Kornelius, a political commentator and author of a biography on Ms Merkel, told The Independent another vote would simply delay a decision between two options already on the table: a three-way “Jamaica” coalition or another grand coalition between Ms Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left SPD.

“An election will not really change anything,” he said. “I don’t think there is that much will for people to suddenly change camp, and a second vote will only increase pressure on the same actors to make an agreement on that which they cannot decide now.”

With the liberal Free Democrats closing the door to a “Jamaica” deal and the SPD’s Martin Schulz standing in opposition, Mr Kornelius described the impasse as “a blow to western ideas of democracy”.

Although no clear winners and losers have emerged from the crisis, Mr Kornelius said Ms Merkel was “as strong as she has ever been”, backed by a conservative party who sees the Chancellor as the only hope for a return to stability.

A poll by broadcaster ZDF found that a slim majority or 51 per cent of Germans support a new election, but on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz enthusiasm for a new vote was limited. One woman who preferred not to be named said: “People have to work for their money and so should politicians. We have already decided, now it’s their turn to agree on something.”