Hundreds of people took part in a protest against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the city of Erfurt, capital of the state of Thuringia, on Saturday, a day before elections for the regional parliament there.
A demonstration march, organised by the alliance “Auf die Plätze” (On your marks), moved through the city centre to Dom Square, where the AfD – which is doing well in the opinion polls – wants to hold its rally to celebrate the end of the election campaign.
In addition to Björn Höcke, local AfD figurehead and party leader, Alice Weidel, the party chairwoman, is also expected.
After a heated election campaign, a new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia on Sunday.
“We will not allow the AfD to dominate the election weekend with their far-right agitation, intimidate people and abuse our city as a stage for their propaganda,” the alliance said.
A week ago, thousands of people took to the streets in Erfurt to protest against the far right and the shift to the right in politics.
The latest polls in Thuringia show that there is little movement in the values of the individual parties: the AfD led the way with values between 29% and 30%, followed by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the new populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance BSW and the far-left party Die Linke (Links).
A total of 1.66 million residents of Thuringia are eligible to vote in Sunday’s state elections.
