“Blue is not a good choice”
Edeka advises against the AfD
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The AfD can become the strongest force in the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony. This is causing concern in the economy. Edeka places full-page advertisements in several newspapers and social networks.
Edeka took a political position a few days before the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia. The supermarket chain advises against voting for the AfD in full-page advertisements in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, in the “Zeit” and on social networks: “Why blue is not available at Edeka,” the company says in the advertisement . Blue is the party color of the AfD.
The ad features numerous fruits and vegetables such as cucumbers, broccoli, bananas, cherries and strawberries. “There is a lot of diversity in the fruit and vegetable department,” says the text. “Evolution has taught us: blue is not a good choice,” they say. “In Germany, the Blues are already the biggest threat to a diverse society.”
The German Trade Association (HDE) also got involved in the election campaign this week. President Alexander von Preen called for democratic parties to be elected. “I can only warn all actors against shifting the social rules of the game towards exclusion and hatred. This will not lead society and the economy into a positive future, but rather into a dead end,” he said.
“Höcke has unmasked himself”
According to HDE, there are currently around 120,000 vacant positions in retail. “Where are people supposed to come from when politicians who rely on exclusion and isolation come to power?” asks von Preen. He described the AfD as dangerous and irresponsible: “With Björn Höcke, one of the AfD's leading figures has unmasked himself once again when he wished bankruptcy for family businesses that publicly support an action for diversity in society and the economy.”
Von Preen refers to an election campaign that is supported by more than 40 German entrepreneurs: “Made in Germany – Made by Diversity,” it says. Those involved include the drugstore chain Rossmann, the chainsaw and garden equipment manufacturer Stihl, the food company Pfeifer & Langen, the household appliance manufacturer Vorwerk and the audio specialist Sennheiser.
Thuringia's AfD leading candidate Höcke apparently doesn't like this approach. According to the MDR, he is said to have described the campaign as hypocrisy at a campaign meeting at the weekend in Sömmerda, Thuringia: “I hope that these companies get into severe, severe economic turbulence,” Höcke is said to have said.
Damage to the economy and prosperity
Not only retailers, but also industry cannot imagine that the AfD will help the German economy. The AfD's aggressive xenophobia will exacerbate the existing problem of a shortage of skilled workers in Germany, said the President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, in the “Welt”. If the AfD were to participate in government, it would cause enormous damage to the economy and prosperity in East Germany. The party wrongly presents itself as the voice of the local medium-sized business community.
Elections will take place on Sunday in Saxony and Thuringia. In current surveys, the AfD has values of around 30 percent in both countries.
