“An Astonishing Breach of Faith With the German People”

JLH has translated two articles about the new anti-euro party in Germany. The first is a full article from the FAZ Sunday edition, and the second an excerpt from a later economic page from the same paper.

The translator includes this note:

The plot thickens. One- or two-issue parties may have a better chance in Europe than here, but it is still chancy that these folks will be able to win enough votes to even enter the Bundestag. They might, on the other hand, put an end to the “moderate” domination of the CDU and usher in an era of unbridled leftism.

Anyway, just imagine for a moment what kind of fiscal advice would emanate from an all-star panel of academic economists in the US. Possibly turning over all assets to the UN so that they could really do some good in the world…?

The first article from FAZ.net:

“Alternative for Germany”

The New Anti-Euro Party

by Winand von Petersdorff
March 4, 2013

According to information available to the Frankfurter Allegemeine Sunday Edition, critics of the policy of salvaging the euro are working to found a party called “Alternative for Germany.” It intends to enter the national elections this September, or at the latest, the European elections in June, 2014. Founders are the economist Bernd Lucke, the author and former Frankfurter Allegemeine editor Konrad Adam, and Alexander Gauland, who was chief of staff of the state chancellery under former Hessian state president Walter Wallmann (CDU).

The composition of personnel founding and supporting the new party argues that they have a chance with the middle class. The supporters include a disproportionate number of liberal and conservative professors who hold or have held chairs in economics. Among them are well-known names like Stefan Homburg and Charles Blankert, who teach public finance in Hannover and Berlin. Others are Joachim Starbatty, Wilhelm Hankel, Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider and Dieter Spethmann, who together argued before the supreme court against the Greek aid plan. Best-known of the supporters is the former president of the Federated Organization of German Industry, Hans-Olaf Henkel, who has already been involved in the founding of many parties.

The chief founder, Bernd Lucke — professor of macro-economics in Hamburg — was a member of the CDU for 33 years, before leaving it in December 2011 because of its save-the-euro policy. He had already attempted to influence policy by founding the “Plenum of Economists.” 328 economics professors became members of the internet assembly, a great majority of whom spoke out in February 2011 against a continuation of the EU bailout. “It had no effect,” said Lucke. The administration had proven to be advice-proof.

The new party is opposed to the euro-saviors, but unreservedly in favor of the peaceful unification of Europe. Further, they will at all costs avoid extremists, and they are in favor of the liberal-democratic constitutional order of the Federal Republic. The author Konrad Adam, in his own words, is driven by concern for democracy in Germany. European unification policy, as practiced or approved by all parties represented in the Bundestag, could be the first basic question in which a sentiment wide-spread among the people does not resonate in parliament.

Founding Meeting in April

“Besides contention over the emergency laws, the Eastern treaties, and finally the re-unification, objections and fears also confront a multi-party coalition which is discussing the pace and reach of rescue actions, but is in agreement about their direction,” Adam laments. With his comrades-in-arms, the writer deplores the breaches of the law: “After the Maastricht criteria had been disregarded for years, they were invalidated, literally overnight.”

Supporter Stefan Homburg has taken an oath never again to vote for a party that voted for the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) bailout. Before now, he had voted for every federal party, except for Die Linke. It is not just the save-the-euro policy that he considers to be false. He is outraged at the “breaches of law” — the infringement of the Maastricht Criteria and the No-Bailout Clause. The idea had grown on him that “national constitutional law takes precedence over equity and certainly over expediency,” Homburg told this newspaper.

The second article is from the economic section of FAZ on March 12, 2013:

A good six months before national parliamentary elections, the new Euroskeptic party AfD held its first meeting. About 1200 people came on that Monday evening to Oberursel near Frankfurt am Main, where several of the founders appeared. Every seat in the house was taken.

With incredible celerity, the party founder Bernd Lucke brought the hall to the boiling point with verbal attacks on the “alternative-less” federal chancellor: “We have a government that has not held to justice and law and treaties and is guilty of an astonishing breach of faith with the German people,” said Lucke. Applause broke out repeatedly.

Writer, co-founder and former FAZ editor Konrad Adam criticized Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. It is false for her to say, in relation to the euro bailout, that there is no alternative, he said. “Politics lives on alternatives.” For those who “cannot or will not stay” he demanded the possibility of leaving the euro.

One thought on ““An Astonishing Breach of Faith With the German People”

  1. This is an excellent initiative, but in the UK we have experience of this type of movement progresses. The UK Independence Party was at first (about 17 years ago) led by an academic. He was replaced by people with real political acumen, Nigel Farage, UKIP MEP, being the most famous. Today we are worrying the three old parties in the UK at all elections, and gaining by defections every week. We call the old parties the ‘LibLabCon’, it has some currency in the media, and people like it – but it was not invented by any academic. Think on.

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