The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved historical
gains in crucial elections in the eastern German states of Saxony and
Brandenburg but Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU and its socialist
coalition partner remain the strongest political parties, allowing the
current grand coalition to hold until 2021.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) remain the strongest party in
Saxony with 32% (down from 39,4% in the last elections in 2014), with
the AfD and the German Greens (Bündnis90/Die Grünen) achieving their
best election results in the history of Saxony regional elections
(respectively 27,3% and 8,8% vs 9,7% and 5,7%). The Social-Democrats
(SPD) came out with a record low of 7,9%, compared to 12,4% five years
ago.
In Brandenburg, the state neighbouring Berlin, the SPD held on to the
top spot with 27.2%, albeit down from 31.9% in the previous election in
2014, while the AfD rose to 22,7%, up from 12,2% in the last elections,
and the Greens reached 10,2%, from 6,2% five years ago.
Left-Wing Die Linke, which has historically performed well in eastern
Germany, turns out to be a big loser in both states where voters who
traditionally chose the party as a form of protest clearly migrated to
the AfD.
Read more: Far-right AfD falls short of first place in both German state elections – EURACTIV.com
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