Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a damaging defeat on Sunday as Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) beat her conservatives in a key regional election.
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ANGELA Merkel’s ruling party has been beaten into third place by the anti-migrant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in a German state election, according to an exit poll. The CDU won 19 percent, down from 23 percent in 2011, and its worst result ever in the state, ARD TV said. The far-right NPD was also knocked out of the state legislature, falling below the 5 percent threshold for the first time since 2006. “Her district in parliament is there, she campaigned there, and refugees are her issue”.
“The task is now to work hard to regain trust”, Ms. Merkel said, and noted that her party must show “that we can solve the problems, not only related to refugees”.
Although Merkel already adjusted migrant policies over the past year, she can’t make a clean break from her overall approach because “that wouldn’t be credible”, political science professor Klaus Schroeder told N24 television. Merkel had formerly pledged not to put quotas on the number of refugees entering her county.
“Maybe today is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel”, said Leif-Erik Holm, the AFD’s main candidate in the state. The next is September 18 in Berlin, where local issues are likely to feature more strongly.
Compared to other parts of Germany, the northeastern state hosts just a small proportion of refugees under a quota system based on states’ income and population – having taken in 25,000 asylum seekers previous year.
“One of the hot-button issues is immigration, but it is more than immigration and what you are seeing is these parties getting more subtle and a bit more sophisticated about how they reach out and grow their constituencies”, Heath said.
Merkel’s support has sunk to a five-year low recently to 45 percent, down from 67 percent a year ago.
Peter Tauber, general secretary of the CDU, immediately blamed Merkel’s refugee policy for what he called a “bitter result, a new experience”.
She added that there is much to be done about the refugees, including the repatriation of those denied asylum in her country.
The center-left Social Democrats, Merkel’s partners in Germany’s national government, remained the strongest party in Mecklenburg. The CSU seized on Sunday’s rout as more evidence Merkel needs to change.
The defeat comes at a crucial time for Merkel, as she needs to deal with the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, a fragile migration deal with Turkey, and an increasingly assertive Russian Federation at Europe’s doorstep.
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Leader Frauke Petry attacked Merkel’s party for saying that “they haven’t done anything wrong”.
