BILLIONAIRE businessman Elon Musk has caused uproar by backing Germany’s main far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections.

Germany is to hold an early election on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed last month amid a dispute over how to revitalise the stagnant economy.

Mr Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag, published in German over the weekend, was the second time this month that he has expressed support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

“The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is the last spark of hope for this country,” Mr Musk wrote in his translated commentary.

He claimed that the far-right party “can lead the country into a future where economic prosperity, cultural integrity and technological innovation are not just wishes, but reality.”

Mr Musk’s commentary led to a debate over the boundaries of free speech, with the paper’s own opinion editor announcing her resignation, pointedly on Mr Musk’s social media platform.

“I always enjoyed leading the opinion section of Welt and Wams. Today, an article by Elon Musk appeared in Welt am Sonntag. I handed in my resignation yesterday after it went to print,” Eva Marie Kogel wrote.

The Tesla Motors chief executive also claimed in his column that his ownership of factories in Germany gave him the right to comment on the country’s condition.

The AfD is polling strongly, but its candidate for the top job, Alice Weidel, has no realistic chance of becoming chancellor because other parties refuse to work with the far-right party.

An ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, the technology billionaire wrote: “The portrayal of the AfD as right-wing extremist is clearly false, considering that Alice Weidel, the party’s leader, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”

A critical article by the future editor-in-chief of the Welt group, Jan Philipp Burgard, accompanied Mr Musk’s opinion piece.

“Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach, that only the AfD can save Germany, is fatally wrong,” Mr Burgard wrote.