Tens of thousands of people rallied against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) in several major German cities last Thursday night after the Christian Union (CDU/CSU) passed a resolution on immigration with votes from (and for) the far-right faction.

In Berlin, for the second night in a row, about 6,000 people gathered outside the CDU headquarters. The workers had previously left the building, as authorities could not guarantee their safe exit from it during the demonstration. However, the rally, called by the organization “Together Against the Right”, developed and ended peacefully, with the main demand being the immediate end of any form of cooperation between the CDU and the AfD.

More than 7,000 people gathered in parallel in front of the headquarters of the CDU’s Bavarian partner Christian Social Union (CSU), with the central slogans “Munich is colorful” and “We are the firewall”, while demonstrators chanted “Shame on you!” under the party leader’s office.

In Freiburg, more than 10,000 people demonstrated, 7,000 people gathered in Hannover, while in Leipzig about 7,000 people chanted slogans such as “Stop Merz and the AfD – defend the right to asylum, rebuild the firewall.”

There were also rallies in Dresden, Münster, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg and other cities.

Meanwhile, in the weekly Deutschlandtrend poll for Germany’s premier public TV channel ARD, but completed before yesterday’s Bundestag vote, the Christian Union (CDU/CSU) maintains its clear lead in voting intentions ahead of the early parliamentary elections with 30% (-1), with the AfD following with 20% (unchanged). In third place is the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with 15% (unchanged), followed by the Left Party with 5% (+1), the Zara Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) with 4% (-1) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) also with 4%.

Asked in the poll whether Germany should accept fewer refugees, the affirmative answer reaches 86%.

In comparison, 10 years ago the corresponding figure was 20%.

Similarly, only 10% of respondents believe that the state has the migration flows in Germany under its control. At the same time, however, only 3 out of 10 believe that it would be reasonable to pursue a national solution to the asylum issue: 6 out of 10 say that a European solution is needed.

Ahead of tomorrow’s vote in the federal parliament on a bill tabled by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group to tighten immigration rules, Economy Minister and Green Party chancellor candidate Robert Habeck said he had attempted to approach CDU leader Friedrich Murch and suggested that a way be found to avoid the vote.

“I approached him and said: ‘Mr Murch, let’s find a way out of this. Can we find a way to avoid a vote?” said Habeck. Friedrich Murch reportedly rejected the proposal.

Referring to the possibility of government cooperation with the CDU after the elections, Robert Habeck said that “in any case, a possible cooperation became more difficult.” As he stressed, “The Union should be credible, and its reneging says the exact opposite. (Cooperation) is, however, dependent on the Union.”