On September 30, Austria’s far-Right party, the Freedom Party, founded by former Nazi functionaries and SS officers, scored its strongest results since the Second World War. Often without being able to win outright majorities, they are unable to form functioning governments as Centrist parties refuse to form coalitions. What will happen as more voters elect far-Right parties based on their extremist policies but their divisive leaders remain far from power is that Centrist parties will adopt increasingly far-Right agendas. There is currently no Centrist party in Germany other than the Greens, which is also rapidly losing support, that opposes tighter restrictions on immigration. Centrist parties, long the gatekeepers of liberal democracy, now tiptoe around the far-Right’s talking points, fearful that ignoring voters’ simmering concerns will only speed up their own political demise.

Source: The Telegraph October 08, 2024 12:55 UTC