Anger in Germany at Musk attempt to 'influence' opinions on election

BERLIN: Germany's government said on Monday (Dec 30) that US billionaire tech baron Elon Musk is trying to sway February elections by praising the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move strongly rejected by major parties.

Musk - a key supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming "efficiency czar" - posted on his social media platform X this month that "only the AfD can save Germany".

He then doubled down on the claim with an opinion piece in a German Sunday newspaper. The Tesla Motors CEO also wrote that his investment in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.

"MUSK IS TRYING TO EXERT INFLUENCE"

On Monday, German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said: "It is a fact that Elon Musk is trying to exert influence on the parliamentary election."

"In Germany, elections are decided by voters at the ballot box," she told a regular press conference, adding that the country's "elections are a matter for Germans".

Europe's biggest economy will head to the polls on Feb 23 after the collapse of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government last month.

Hoffmann said Musk "is free to express his opinion, but one doesn't have to share it".

She also pointed out that the AfD is being monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence service on suspicion of being right-wing extremists and that it has already been recognised as such in some German states. 

Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), told the Funke media group that Musk "is trying the same thing as Vladimir Putin", the Russian president.

"They both want to influence our elections and support the AfD, which is hostile to democracy," he said, accusing both Musk and Putin of "wanting Germany to be weakened and pushed into chaos".

Klingbeil said more action was needed on the European level to restrict the political power of big social media platforms such as X.

Musk has repeatedly used X to attack Scholz personally, most recently in the wake of a deadly car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg on Dec 20.

The tech billionaire called Scholz an "incompetent fool" and said he "should resign immediately".

ELECTION CAMPAIGN MEDDLING

Musk's interventions in German politics have also been criticised by Scholz's main rival, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the conservative opposition CDU/CSU. 

Merz labelled Musk's AfD endorsement "interfering and presumptuous" and said he could not remember "a comparable case of meddling in the election campaign of an allied country in the history of Western democracy".

The AfD is in second place in the latest polls at 19 per cent, behind the CDU/CSU opposition at 32 per cent.

The SPD is headed for its worst-ever result at 16 per cent while its Green coalition partners are polling at 13 per cent.