In Tuesday’s edition of the daily newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Horst Seehofer, the Bavarian state premier and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), said Sunday’s “disastrous” election result was a outcome of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy.
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The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party clinched nearly 21 percent in its first bid for seats in the regional parliament of the north-eastern ex-Communist state on Sunday, coming second and knocking Merkel’s party into third place with just 19 percent. It was now important to regain that trust, she said.
Although Sunday’s election was held in Germany’s poorest and least populous state, the outcome was significant in part because it is home to Merkel’s constituency, the port city of Stralsund.
While she insisted that opening the borders to a mass influx of refugees and migrants a year ago was the “right” decision, she said that, as chancellor and party chief, “of course I am also responsible”.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to “win back the trust” of voters after a shock defeat in regional elections, but refused to back down on her policy of welcoming refugees.
“This is a slap in the face for Merkel – not only in Berlin but also in her home state”, said Frauke Petry, co-leader of the AfD. “However, I believe the decisions that have been made were right, and now we must continue working”.
The AfD’s win was cheered by the leader of France’s far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, who posted on Twitter: “What was impossible yesterday has become possible: the patriots of AfD sweep up the party of Ms Merkel”.
The 82-year Holocaust survivor warned that, in collaboration with other far-right parties, the AfD was a threat Germany’s democratic foundations.
Merkel’s Christian Democrats finished third in Sunday’s election for the state legislature in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, behind the three-year-old Alternative for Germany, or AfD.
“This isn’t pretty for us”, said Michael Grosse-Broemer, one of Merkel’s top deputies in parliament in Berlin in a ZDF TV interview.
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Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, expressed concern about the strong showing of the AfD, saying: “Clearly, many voters are not aware or play down the fact that the AfD does not clearly distance itself from right-wing extremists, be it in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania or anywhere else in the country”. Merkel’s Christian Democrats received 19 percent.
