In an unusually fiery speech in Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on democratic parties from across the political spectrum to stand together against threats to democracy. 

Wearing a black suit and black tie following a special parliamentary session to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, Scholz evoked Germany's Nazi past as he urged voters to reject the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and argued for a stronger European Union.

Addressing opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, Scholz, who is a Social Democrat(SPD), said: "We must stand together as democrats. We in Germany have a task given our history. As democrats, we want to show that we will stop this trend, and we will do so together."

Scholz also offered his support to the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the streets in protest against the AfD and far-right extremism this month after it was revealed that officials from the far-right party met with right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis to discuss "remigration," a euphemism for deporting immigrants from Germany.

"When conferences are held in country manors in this country to discuss how a part of the population can be pushed out of this country — 'remigration' being the keyword — it is reminiscent of the darkest times in German history," he said, referring to the Nazi era.

"Those who remain silent are complicit," Scholz said. 

CDU's Merz: AfD the 'downfall' for Germany 

Opposition leader Merz echoed Scholz's praise of the mass demonstrations against far-right extremism and denounced the AfD in front of the assembly. 

"Xenophobia, antisemitism and nationalism go hand in hand with you, as do close ties to Russia and a deep-seated anti-American complex," Merz told AfD lawmakers. 

"Enough is enough. You are not an 'alternative for Germany' — you would be the final downfall for Germany, and not just economically, but above all morally," he added. 

However, Merz also blamed Scholz's coalition government for creating the conditions for the far-right to thrive.

"Not all AfD voters are right-wing extremists," he said. "But they are all very frustrated."

Rise of far-right in Germany 

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel used her time at a pulpit to lambaste Scholz's government as "overburdened misfits and stubborn ideologues" who are cutting a "swath of devastation" through Germany. She also claimed her party was the victim of an "unprecedented smear campaign." 

Far-right parties are expected to gain seats in European parliamentary elections later this year. The AfD has been riding a wave of success for some time, and the latest polls put them in second place nationwide at 23% — up from 10.3% in Germany's last general election in 2021

Many of those voters have voiced frustration with the policies of more traditional parties, like the SPD and CDU. 

Scholz defends coalition policy 

Amid economic headwinds faced in Germany caused in part by rising energy costs, Scholz accused the previous CDU-led government of neglecting the electricity grid, not pushing renewable energy and failing to invest adequately in Germany's steel, semiconductor and battery sectors — all of which he said his government is now doing.

"What does your political plan have to do with the future of Germany, exactly?" he asked rhetorically of the previous coalition where he served as finance minister. "Nothing, is the answer. Economic expertise: zero. No industrial perspective. No employment perspective. No perspective for Germany."

Scholz also defended his government's employment policy, highlighting that Germany currently has the highest employment rate in its modern history, with 45.9 million people employed in Germany in 2023, according to official statistics.

"Never before have so many people been in work," said Scholz, praising his coalition government for "setting the pace for two years" to pick up the pieces left by the previous CDU-led administration, in which the SPD was a junior coalition partner.

"And there's an awful lot to pick up," he said. "Over many years, the conditions have not been created for Germany to have an industrial future."

After CDU leader Merz accused the coalition of governing "callously and recklessly," Scholz addressed him personally, saying:

"You're a particularly special one, attacking the government every day, often below the belt. And you have every right to do so. But then, when you're criticized, you're a snowflake. Boxers shouldn't have glass chins. But you absolutely have a glass chin, Mr. Merz."

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mf/wmr (AFP, dpa)