Extremists win seats in Germany
by BERLIN (JTA) -- The success of an extreme right-wing party in elections this week in the eastern German state of Brandenburg has, Jewish leaders and liberal activists fear the German People's Party, which may have as many as five seats in the state's parliam
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It is unlikely that the People's Party will be able to win the support it would need from other parties in Brandenburg to implement its anti-immigrant policies. In Sachsen-Anhalt, mainstream parties have marginalized People's Party officials.
But the lack of real power does not make the election results more palatable, said Andreas Nachama, president of Berlin's Jewish Community.
"There is no way to put it nicely," he said, calling for a "battle" with the leaders of the People's Party using "all the political means that democracy can use."
"It's a disaster," said Dieter Tienkny, spokesman for the Berlin-Brandenburg region of the Federation of German Unions, which fights xenophobia.
Shortly after polls closed Sunday, vote counts showed that the People's Party had won at least 5.5 percent of the vote, passing the 5 percent minimum required in order to have a representative in the state parliament.
For more JTA stories, go to http://www.jta.org
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