The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany has made strong gains in elections in two east German states but the mainstream parties of left and right also performed better than expected, bringing relief to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government in Berlin.
According to projections broadcast by Germany’s ZDF TV channel, the AFD won 28.1 per cent in Saxony, one of its best results in a German election, and 24.5 per cent in Brandenburg, the state around Berlin.
The result showed that “the AFD is here to stay”, said Andreas Kalbitz, the party’s leader in Brandenburg, and that “no politics is possible without us”.
The outcome of Sunday’s vote means the two parties that govern in the two eastern states — the Christian Democratic Union in Saxony and the Social Democratic
party in Brandenburg — are likely to be able to stay in power.
However, both will require the support of the Greens, which increased their share of the vote in both states, to form viable coalition governments.
“Whether a government made up of the CDU, SPD and Greens will really be stable is for me a big question mark,” said Jörg Urban, the Afd’s leader in Saxony.
While some polls had indicated that the AFD could emerge victorious in both elections, the CDU won convincingly in Saxony, with 33.1 per cent, and the SPD won in Brandenburg, with 26.6 per cent.
It was still the worst result for each party since German reunification in 1990. The CDU’S vote in Saxony declined by about 6 percentage points, and the SPD’S by 5 points.
The two parties are allies in Ms Merkel’s “grand coalition” in Berlin.
The AFD hailed the result but it brings the party no closer to real political power. All the main parties have ruled out alliances with the populists.
Saxony is at present governed by the CDU in coalition with the SPD. Brandenburg is run by the SPD in coalition with Die Linke, a hard-left grouping with its roots in East Germany’s former ruling Communist party.
The CDU’S good showing in Saxony will relieve the pressure on its leader Annegret KrampKarrenbauer, who has struggled to impose her authority on the party since succeeding Ms Merkel as party boss last December. She was blamed for the CDU’S dismal performance in the European elections in May, but the respectable result in Saxony could mark a turnround in her and the party’s fortunes.
The result in Brandenburg will be a relief for the SPD, which had feared being beaten by the AFD.
