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Far-right
AfD overtakes Merkel’s conservatives in regional vote
The
state which is home to Merkel’s constituency could deliver the
CDU’s third-worst result since World War II.
By
Matthew Karnitschnig
9/4/16, 7:03 PM CET
BERLIN — Germany’s
anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party surged ahead of
Angela Merkel’s conservatives in the northeastern state of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Sunday, a bitter defeat for the
chancellor’s party that reflects the deep frustration with her
refugee policies.
While early
projections predicted the Social Democrats would remain the strongest
party in the state with about 30 percent of the vote, the AfD —
running in the state for the first time — garnered 21 percent, well
ahead of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) with 19 percent.
“This is an
excellent result that we couldn’t have dreamed of before,” said
Leif-Erik Holm, the AfD’s lead candidate.
Even so, the AfD is
almost sure to remain in opposition with the Social Democrats and
conservatives winning enough support to continue their coalition.
The AfD has
performed well in other recent regional elections but the
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern result, if the projections are confirmed,
would mark the first time the party has overtaken Merkel’s
conservatives.
Many Germans
worry about the country’s ability to integrate those who are
already here.
The result in
Meck-Pomm, as locals refer to their region, is a particualr blow to
Merkel whose Bundestag constituency is located in the state, and who
grew up nearby. If the result holds, it would be the third-worst
showing for the Christian Democrats since World War Two.
Though the number of
refugees arriving in Germany has dropped considerably in recent
months, many Germans worry about the country’s ability to integrate
those who are already here. Those concerns were hit home by a string
of recent terror attacks in Germany and neighboring countries, some
of which involved refugees.
Though all major
parties suffered losses in Sunday’s election, the outcome is a
particularly worrying sign for Merkel’s conservatives.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the country’s most sparsley-populated state
with just 2 percent of Germany’s registered voters, has been
governed by a Social Democrat-led grand coaltion with Merkel’s
Christian Democrats since 2006.
Even though the
economy in the long-depressed state improved in recent years, earning
Social Democrat premier Erwin Sellering high marks, many voters used
the election to voice their dissatisfaction with Merkel’s refugee
policy by voting for the AfD.
Despite the fact
that the state has taken in few refugees, polls suggested that the
issue was formost in voters’ minds. The result made clear that
voters primarily hold Merkel’s conservatives and not the Social
Democrats responsible for refugee policies.
Exit polls showed
that while most the AfD’s voters did not vote in the last election,
it also benefited from many defectors from the Christian Democrats.
Authors:
Matthew Karnitschnig
|
Angela
Merkel's CDU beaten by anti-migrant AfD party in German state
election
'Perhaps
this is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel's chancellorship
today,' says Local AfD leader Leif-Erik Holm
Matt Payton
5-9-2016
Angela Merkel's
ruling CDU party has been beaten into third place by the anti-migrant
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), following elections in a German
state.
The right-wing
populist AfD won 20.8 per cent of votes in the election for the state
legislature in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Ms Merkel's Christian
Democrats polled 19 per cent, their worst result yet in the state.
The centre-left
Social Democrats, who led the outgoing state government in a
coalition with the conservatives, remained the strongest party with
30.6 per cent of the vote.
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stem refugee crisis
Mecklenburg-Western
Pomerania, in Germany's northeastern corner, is home to 1.6 million
of the country's 80 million people and is a relative political
lightweight. It is, however, the state where Ms Merkel has her
parliamentary constituency, and Sunday's regional vote was the first
of five before a national election expected next September.
Chancellor Merkel's
refugee policies were a prominent issue in the campaign for Sunday's
election, which came a year after she decided to let in migrants from
Hungary. Germany registered more than 1 million people as
asylum-seekers last year.
Ms Merkel has stuck
to her insistence that “we will manage” the refugee crisis, and
has also said that “sometimes you have to endure such
controversies.”
National AfD leader
Frauke Petry celebrated “a blow to Angela Merkel.” Local AfD
leader Leif-Erik Holm told supporters: "Perhaps this is the
beginning of the end of Angela Merkel's chancellorship today."
The AfD, however,
fell well short of its aim of becoming the strongest party, and also
didn't match the 24.3 per cent support it won in another eastern
state, Saxony-Anhalt, in March.
Earlier in the year,
the centre-right CDU party was expected to help form the region's
coalition government along with the centre-left Social Democratic
Party (SDP) mirroring the arrangement at the federal level.
“This result, and
the strong performance of AfD, is bitter for many, for everyone in
our party,” said Peter Tauber, Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats'
general secretary.
He said the state
government's positive record took a back seat for many voters,
“because among a recognisable part, there was an explicit wish to
voice displeasure and protest, and we saw that particularly strongly
in the discussion about refugees.”
Sunday's result
could make it more difficult for Ms Merkel to bury a festering
dispute with the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian arm of her
conservative bloc, which has long criticized her decision to open the
borders and advocated an annual cap on migrants.
CSU general
secretary Andreas Scheuer said that “we feel vindicated in our
course.”
The AfD is now
represented in nine of Germany's 16 state legislatures and hopes to
enter the national Parliament next year. There's no realistic
prospect at present of the AfD going into government as other parties
will not deal with it.
Associated Press
contributed to this report
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