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Friedrich Merz and his Christian Democrats have damaged a political taboo by running with the right-wing election for Germany to tighten immigration regulations. He paid.
By Christopher F. Schuetze and Jim Tankersley
Berlin reports
The guy who was strongly favored to become Gerguyy’s next chancellor has made an ordinary commitment this week, either for his political career and for his country’s firewall in political extremism.
It didn’t go as I expected.
In an effort to portray himself and his party as tough on immigration, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the poll-leading Christian Democrats, pushed a series of measures tightening borders and accelerating deportations through Parliament this week. He did so with help from the hard-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD — parts of which have been classified as extremist by German intelligence agencies.
On Friday, the gambit ended in an overwhelming legislative defeat for Mr. Merz, dissent in his own party and the jubilant claims of a new legitimacy of the AFD, a chain reaction that can hint the Cushty seat of the Mr. merz in the more sensible of surveys.
Mr Merz’s preference for AFD has damaged a taboo in German politics that had ended since the end of the Second World War.
It left Mr. Merz facing fierce criticism from political opponents, religious leaders, Holocaust survivors and former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who remains a member of Mr. Merz’s party. Tens of thousands demonstrated outside of conservative Christian Democrats’ party offices across the country.
Despite criticism and several possibilities to take a step back, Mr. Merz to bring a bill strengthening immigration regulations to the chamber’s Parquet field on Friday. He failed.
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