Sebastian Rüter has a simple message for the people of Brandenburg, the eastern German state that elects a new parliament on Sunday: vote Social Democrat or risk another win for the far-right Alternative for Germany.
“It’s the ‘us or them’ effect,” the SPD lawmaker said during door-to-door campaigning in Kleinmachnow, south-west of Berlin. “People realise the Social Democrats are the only force that can stop the AfD.”
The tactic seems to be working, at least in his constituency. As Rüter plied voters with leaflets, customised pens and home-made jam, one woman told him she would definitely vote SPD on Sunday. “We have no other choice,” she said.