Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader and Chancellor candidate, has repeatedly labeled the AfD as “right-extremist”. However, it has been discovered that he was a board member at Stadler Rail AG, an enterprise of Peter Spuhler, a prominent representative of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which shares many positions with the AfD. This raises questions about the consistency of Merz’s stance.
The Swiss World Week, a publication, has questioned how Merz could work for an allegedly “right-extremist” company and even receive an honorarium from it. According to Merz’s own logic, he should have drawn a “red line” against Spuhler and his firm, rather than working there and accepting a payment. This has led to the inquiry: who is “right-extremist” – the AfD or Merz himself?
Merz’s political positioning appears increasingly contradictory. He now counts the Greens and the SPD as “parties of the political center”. However, if the Greens are in the center, where does the CDU stand? Shouldn’t it be considered “right-outside” according to this logic?
In his attacks on the AfD, Merz describes it as an “openly right-extremist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic party”. However, the AfD has adopted central points of the SVP’s program, particularly the demand for more direct democracy, in areas such as migration and asylum policy, economic and social policy and European policy.
If the AfD is deemed right-extremist due to its program, the SVP should be considered the same. Yet, Merz collaborated with an SVP exponent for years. This has sparked a debate about the consistency of Merz’s stance and the implications of his past actions.