Germany’s AfD Wins Another State Election, Adding Pressure on Chancellor Merz, Exit Polls Show
Exit polls gave the far-right party 37% and left Chancellor Friedrich Merz facing renewed pressure over his unpopular reform agenda.
- On Sunday, the far-right AfD was projected to win the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election with 37.0% of the vote, narrowly outpacing the governing Social Democrats at 35.5% while Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU slumped to 5.5%.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office 16 months ago, faces mounting pressure as the AfD gains strength, building on their strong performance in the Saxony-Anhalt election two weeks ago that weakened his national standing.
- In Berlin's separate election held Sunday, the far-left Die Linke led with 24.5% of the vote, while Merz's conservatives followed at 20% and the AfD continued its trend of rising support, reaching 16%.
- Despite the AfD's projected victory in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the party is unlikely to govern as other main parties have ruled out forming a coalition with the far-right group.
- Anticipating a difficult period, Merz canceled a planned trip to New York next week for the UN General Assembly, as allies warned against public 'personnel debates' regarding his leadership following the election results.
480 Articles
480 Articles
Think tanks urge German Chancellor to stick with reforms after election defeats
German economic think tanks urged Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition on Thursday to stay the course on policy reforms after heavy losses in regional elections fuelled speculation the measures could be watered down.
After the state elections, the reforms are now under review again. An internal paper from the SPD board could create new noise in the coalition.
After the election defeats in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin, the CDU is under pressure. Florian Schmidt analyses the Merz course in the "phoenix rounde".
The German CDU is experiencing a historic debacle in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and for the first time misses its entry into a state parliament in its history. One day later, the chancellor Angela Merkel reminds her party of the roots of the Christian Democrats – and of a political idea that she finds decisive for the People's Party to this day.
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