Plans to restrict immigration put forth by opposition conservatives and backed by the far-right Alternative for germany (AfD) drew thousands of protesters in Berlin on Sunday. In defiance of the taboo against working with the far-right party, Friedrich Merz, the head of the conservatives and the front-runner for Germany's next chancellor following a national election scheduled for february 23, presented a draft law with AfD support.
 
According to the Berlin police, some 160,000 people gathered at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, which is next to the lower chamber of the Bundestag. "Merz, go home, shame on you!" and "We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD" were among the signs hoisted by the demonstrators.
 
Merz, the CDU/CSU's candidate for chancellor, attempted to forward the immigration measure in the lower house on friday but was unable to gain a majority because some of his own party's deputies refused to back it.
 
Merz, who had pushed for the bill despite party members' concerns that he risked being tainted with the allegation of voting alongside the far-right, suffered a blow to his authority when they refused to support his draft.
 
In the past, mainstream German parties have teamed up to act as a firewall against the far-right by preventing the AfD, which is monitored by Germany's security agencies, from gaining legislative authority.
 
The proposed law called for more individuals to be turned away at the border and would have limited family reunions for certain migrants. According to a recent study, two-thirds of the people want stricter immigration laws.
 
Merz had said that the measure was an essential reaction to a string of high-profile murders committed by individuals with immigrant ancestry in public places. However, the Greens and Social Democrats (SPD), led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, claimed the plans were illegal under european law and would not have prevented the assaults.

Tens of thousands demonstrated against the CDU/CSU and the AfD on saturday in a number of other German cities, including Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Hamburg.
 
 
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SIBY JEYYA

03/02/2025 09:56 AM