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The emergence of the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement shocked many Germans three years ago – up to a thousand supporters of the group turned out in Dresden, the capital city of the eastern German state of Saxony, on Saturday to boo them again.
PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, marked its third anniversary with a rally in the city's Theaterplatz. Its supporters carried national flags and banners with slogans such as "Asylum frauds go home" and "Islam no thanks", rejecting German Chancellor Merkel.
"The rule of law, freedom of opinion, democracy - the things we fought for in 1989 have to be restored. At the moment we do not have a normal democracy; it's a dictatorship of opinion from Merkel and co.", a PEGIDA supporter was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
The German media reported the rally was marred by bad weather that delayed it by an hour, adding that dozens of supporters left before PEGIDA founder Lutz Bachmann began his speech.
Counter voices
Not only the rain, but counter-demonstrators were also present to raise voice against racism.
"After three years these people are still there and haven't understood that their path leads nowhere. They claim to be 'the people' and they may have got the majority in the election in Saxony, but across Germany they are not 'the people',” said a counter-protester.
People hold a banner which reads "The Islam is part of Saxony" at the rally 'Open-minded and colorful Dresden for everybody!' to protest against PEGIDA in front of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Dresden January 26, 2015. /Reuters Photo
“That is not something anybody can claim to be - there are always different opinions and it's important to keep showing them, week after week and especially on days like the anniversary today, that there are people who don't share their opinion and that things can be different."
There was a high police presence to prevent any clashes between the two sides.
PEGIDA made headlines when it started rallies in Dresden in October 2014. It accelerated the campaign against migrants in February the year later but always faced counter-demonstrators that the local media say were often the same size.
Far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) later absorbed some of its supporters, sealing a historical entry into the federal parliament.
The AfD won about 13 percent of the vote in the national election last month, becoming the third biggest party in the federal parliament.
It beat Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony, garnering about 27 percent of the vote.
The election figures showed strong support that the far-right populists enjoy in the state. Analysts say that the people in the state are supporting the right because they feel being deprived and not necessarily because they are against migrants or any particular group.
“The assertion that the shift to the right is only due to an East German dislike of refugees is populist and fundamentally wrong,” Marcel Fratzscher, head of the German Institute for Economic Research wrote in Handelsblatt Global.
“There are few foreigners in the regions where the AfD receives its strongest support. No resident of Saxony has lost benefits because of refugees, nor have the immigrants endangered jobs or wages there. And hardly anyone in eastern Germany can claim that the refugees pose a personal security risk,” he explained.
(CGTN)
