Germany's far-right AfD on track for another state election win
Brandenburg holds election a year before federal vote
Eastern state is traditional stronghold of Scholz's SPD
AfD win could heap pressure on Scholz over second term
By Sarah Marsh
BERLIN, Sept 22 (Reuters) -The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in an election in Brandenburg on Sunday, seeking to build on gains in other eastern states this month and beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in a traditional stronghold.
The AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War Two, in Thuringia, on Sept. 1 and just missed first place in Saxony.
It is one of several far-right groups in Europe capitalising on worries over an economic slowdown, immigration and the Ukraine war - concerns that are particularly strong in formerly Communist-run eastern Germany.
The party, which is unlikely to be able to govern because it is polling short of a majority and other parties would refuse to work with it, is also seeking to gain from discontent over infighting in Scholz's three-party federal coalition.
"We urgently need a thorough course correction so the country does not go to the dogs," the AfD's lead candidate in Brandenburg, Hans-Christoph Berndt, said at a campaign event earlier this month.
An AfD victory in the state election would be a particular embarrassment for the Social Democrats (SPD), which has won elections in Brandenburg and governed the state of 2.5 million people since reunification in 1990.
It would also raise further questions about the suitability of Scholz, the least popular German chancellor on record, to lead the party into next year's election.
Brandenburg's popular SPD premier Dietmar Woidke has mostly shunned campaigning with Scholz, who lives in the state's capital, Potsdam. In an unusual move, Woidke has also criticised the behaviour and policies of the ruling coalition.
Instead, he has sought to highlight economic success stories during the five years since the last state election such as the opening of a Tesla TSLA.O factory and Brandenburg airport - which serves Berlin and is now Germany's third most important aviation hub.
NARROW THE GAP
In recent weeks, the SPD has managed to narrow the gap with the AfD, opinion polls have shown.
A poll published by pollster Forschungsgruppe Wahlen on Thursday put the AfD on 28% in Brandenburg with the SPD just one point behind on 27%, followed by the conservatives on 14% and the new leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) on 13%.
"My greatest challenge in this legislative period ... to not allow right-wing extremists to have anything to say in this country ever again," Woidke said at a campaign event on Tuesday.
He has threatened to resign if his party comes in behind the AfD. AfD party leader Tino Chrupalla said Scholz should do the same.
"It is high time this government suffer the consequences after this state election," Chrupalla said.
Both of Scholz's junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats and the Greens, look set to struggle to win the 5% needed to enter the state parliament, polls show.
At a national level, the three parties in Scholz's coalition are now collectively polling less than the opposition conservatives although political analysts say much could change before the federal election due in September 2025.
Reporting by Sarah Marsh;
Editing by Helen Popper
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
