{"text":[[{"start":9.93,"text":"The far-right political party Alternative for Germany has pledged to deport migrants, clamp down on public broadcasters and launch a student exchange with Russia if it takes power in an eastern German state in elections later this year."}],[{"start":25.16,"text":"At a conference in Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday the AfD launched its “programme for government” in the region, where it is leading in the polls. "}],[{"start":34.96,"text":"If it secures victory in the vote which is due to take place in September, it could take charge of one of Germany’s federal states for the first time in its 13-year history."}],[{"start":48,"text":"The party’s candidate for state premier Ulrich Siegmund told delegates at the gathering in the regional capital of Magdeburg that they would “make history” at a time when many people “no longer feel safe in our home country . . . we barely feel at home anymore”. "}],[{"start":67.03999999999999,"text":"The AfD, formed in 2013 in response to the Eurozone crisis, has increasingly morphed into a party defined by its hardline stance on migration — as well as its overtures to Moscow. "}],[{"start":83.41999999999999,"text":"Last year it was officially designated as a right-wing extremist organisation by the country’s domestic intelligence service. It also faces several ongoing investigations into elected officials’ alleged acceptance of Chinese and Russian money. The officials deny the claims."}],[{"start":102.74999999999999,"text":"AfD has enjoyed growing popularity as its mainstream rivals have lost support, and it clinched a second-place finish in last year’s nationwide parliamentary elections for the first time, with 21 per cent of the vote."}],[{"start":117.84999999999998,"text":"Its strongest support is in eastern states such as Saxony-Anhalt which were part of the communist German Democratic Republic until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989."}],[{"start":130.54999999999998,"text":"In 2024, the AfD came first in the eastern state of Thuringia — the first time it won a federal state election. But the centre-right and centre-left formed an unlikely coalition with a far left party to keep the far right out of power."}],[{"start":149.23,"text":"In Saxony-Anhalt, polling suggests that the AfD’s support stands close to 40 per cent, despite a recent nepotism scandal in which regional party officials gave taxpayer-funded jobs to each other’s family members."}],[{"start":165.92,"text":"That could be enough for it to take power in September, especially if several smaller parties fall below the 5 per cent threshold needed to make it into the state parliament."}],[{"start":178.67,"text":"The 156-page manifesto approved by the party on Saturday is highly contentious. It includes a raft of policies that lie beyond the remit of a state government such as ending sanctions on Moscow, resuming gas purchases via the Nord Stream pipelines, quitting the Paris climate agreement and abolishing the right to asylum in Germany. "}],[{"start":202.26,"text":"Siegmund told the FT that he wanted to show voters how these policies affected their region — and also to set out the party’s “fundamental political orientation” as it works towards the next nationwide elections in 2029."}],[{"start":217.2,"text":"Many of the other plans set out in the manifesto would almost certainly be challenged in Germany’s constitutional court. Yet that may not stop the party attempting to implement them if it takes power in Saxony-Anhalt, which is home to around 2mn people and is Germany’s second-poorest state in terms of GDP per capita. "}],[{"start":239.25,"text":"German states hold responsibility for education, the police and the regional divisions of the domestic intelligence agency, so an AfD state government could have wide-reaching impact. "}],[{"start":252.94,"text":"The party’s proposals include banning gender-inclusive language in public institutions, removing rainbow flags from schools and promoting heterosexual parents as the norm."}],[{"start":264.83,"text":"It would seek to abolish the current public broadcasting system in the state, which is funded by licence fees, as well as the public-funded agency for political education. It accuses both of propagating leftwing indoctrination. "}],[{"start":281.26,"text":"The manifesto describes Germany’s postwar efforts to confront its Nazi past as perpetuating a “neurosis” that has “gutted our cultural heritage and destroyed possibilities for the formation of a stable national identity”."}],[{"start":296.7,"text":"It also criticises what it calls the “anti-Russia policies of the established political parties”, and promises to promote better economic and cultural ties with Moscow. It proposes expanding Russian language teaching and launching Russian school exchange programmes. "}],[{"start":315.69,"text":"Ukrainians, it says, should no longer hold status in Germany as refugees and should be encouraged to go home."}],[{"start":324.08,"text":"Migration is a central plank of the programme, which calls for a “goodbye culture” for illegal migrants rather than a “welcome culture”."}],[{"start":334.27,"text":"It uses the highly contested term “remigration”, a concept coined by right-wing Austrian ideologue Martin Sellner, saying that forced deportations would apply to failed asylum seekers, convicted criminals and others without the right to live in Germany."}],[{"start":352.4,"text":"It includes pledges to deter and discourage legal migration and rejects the idea of filling skills shortages in areas such as healthcare with workers from “culturally alien” backgrounds."}],[{"start":365.79999999999995,"text":"The AfD’s main rival in the state, the centre-right Christian Democrat party, has said it would be an “absolute catastrophe” for the region if the AfD took power. "}],[{"start":389.28999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776057091_8624.mp3"}