Recent historic election victories appear to be putting wind in the sails of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which continues to widen its lead over the establishment and expand its support base.
After two major first-place finishes this month in the local elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the anti-mass migration AfD has seen its lead over the supposedly centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz grow to its largest in history.
According to the first national survey after Sunday’s elections, the AfD has seen its support rise to 29.5 per cent, a record high recorded by the Insa polling firm.
This also means that the nationalist-sovereigntist party now holds a record lead of ten points over the combined forces of the CDU/CSU alliance, which held steady since last week at 19.5 per cent, Die Welt reported.
Perhaps even more significantly, the party seems to be widening its reach. While recent election wins were significant accomplishments for the upstart party, both elections took place in states that were previously part of Soviet-controlled East Germany, which, after decades of brutal socialist rule, tend to be far more hostile to left-wing ideologies and have therefore provided a natural base for the AfD.
Yet, as disdain for the establishment parties’ musical-chair governments grows, more people seem willing to turn to a political alternative.
According to a survey by the local Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper, for the first time in its history, the AfD overtook the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous and economically powerful state in West Germany.
The Forsa poll put the populist party at 24 per cent, compared to the CDU, which has fallen by eight points since the last election to just 22 per cent.
It comes amid growing speculation over Chancellor Merz’s political shellfire, who, despite acknowledging that the loss to the AfD in Meck-Pomm was a “disaster“, refused to resign.
This puts the German leader out of step with his people, with 55 per cent telling Forsa this week that they believe he should resign, compared to 40 per cent who support him remaining in office.
The poll also found that just 11 per cent of German voters are satisfied with the chancellor’s performance, compared to 87 per cent who disapprove.
Furthermore, only 10 per cent of the public believe that the Merz party is best equipped to solve Germany’s problems. While the AfD currently leads in that metric with 13 per cent, a majority of 54 per cent have no faith in any political party to turn the country around.