Elections in eastern Germany could shake Merkel’s coalition
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Elections on Sunday in Saxony and neighboring Brandenburg, two federal states in former East Germany, have the entire country holding its breath. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is poised to do well, and the results could be historic.
The results will not only determine their respective regional governments for the next five years. They could also have repercussions at the national level and mark a turning point in the post-reunification political history of these two former East German states.
Both Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the SPD are expected to lose support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Brandenburg and Saxony.
But polls show that the SPD will be the bigger losers when the voting ends.
The SPD is almost tied with the anti-immigrant AfD in Brandenburg, where an unprecedented victory for the far-right party would amplify leftist voices in the centre-left party who want out of the coalition to rebuild in opposition.
The latest poll put the Social Democrats on 22%, just 1 point ahead of the AfD in Brandenburg, that has been governed by the SPD since German reunification three decades ago.
The SPD has been run by an interim leadership team since their leader stepped down in June after painful losses in the elections for the European Parliament and support for the party nationally is at a record low of about 15%.
A coalition breakdown could trigger a snap federal election before 2021, an unappealing option for the SPD given that national polls have put Merkel’s conservatives first, with the Greens close behind and the SPD trailing on a par with the AfD.
