Merkel: Conservatives siding with far right in election bad for democracy

Reuters

6 February 2020 at 5:45 am·1-min read

PRETORIA (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that Wednesday - when a state premier was elected with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and her conservatives - was a bad day for democracy and the outcome needed to be undone.

"This event is inexcusable and so the result must be reversed," Merkel told a news conference during a visit to South Africa.

The election of Thomas Kemmerich, a little-known liberal Free Democrat (FDP) in the eastern state of Thuringia, was the first in which a state premier won with the support of the AfD, shattering the post-war consensus among established parties of shunning the far right.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Paul Carrel)

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