Left-Extremist Endeavours

Local government elections
The election results must be seen as a DVU defeat since FREY
had expected a victorious entry also into the Thuringian Landtag
and a return of up to 8 % of the votes.
In the local elections in Thuringia and North Rhine/Westphalia,
where the DVU put up candidates only in selected places, it won
three electoral mandates in each Land. In the elections to the
Bremerhaven City Council of 26 September, the DVU won 5.2 %
of the votes (1995: 5.7 %) and again had three deputies on this
municipal council, where the DVU has been represented uninterruptedly
since 1987.
European Parliament Already in 1998, the DVU had announced its participation in the
elections to the European Parliament, with Franz SCHÖNHUBER 41) ,
by now a non-party member, but formerly the National Chairman
of the REP, as its front runner. At its party convention on 16
January, the DVU had submitted to the REP an offer for alternating
participation in Landtag elections as well as in the European
elections and in the Bundestag elections in 2002. At the
same time, the DVU National Executive Committee had agreed
to participate in the elections to the Bremen Bürgerschaft, and in
the Landtag elections in Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony.
After SCHÖNHUBER had withdrawn as the DVU front runner in the
European elections 42) and the REP had opted for independent
participation in this election, the DVU gave up its original plan of
running in the European elections. Nor did the DVU participate in
the Landtag elections in Saxony. This non-participation decision
was announced indirectly in a circular of mid-June 43) ; in addition
to competition by the "National Democratic Party of Germany"
(NPD), which was feared to be very strong competitor in Saxony,
the reasons for this - as well as for the Party’s withdrawal from
the European elections - may be assumed to be of a financial
nature 44) .
Leading position of the
DVU
Thanks to the election success in Bremen and Hamburg, FREY -
despite the defeat in Thuringia - has underpinned his claim to
leadership within the camp of right-extremist parties. In a circular
of mid-June, FREY reported that first steps had been taken to
arrive at some normalization in relations with the REP under
SCHLIERER’s leadership. The NPD was, however, a sworn enemy
of the NPD under its present leadership; it was not acceptable for
DVU members to make common cause with the NPD. After the
election success in Brandenburg, FREY further declared his
willingness to harmonize the DVU’s course at the national level
even more closely with the REP. But a merger with the REP was
not being considered 45) .
Conflicts in The DVU parliamentary group of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt,
which had numbered 16 deputies since April 1998, lost four
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