Germany’s far-right newcomer party has followed a significant victory in regional elections with a marked defeat in another.
On Sunday, the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party scored only 7.8% of the vote in the northwestern state of Lower Saxony, pushing it to fourth place in the elections that were for town and rural councils.
It was the turn of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union, to top the charts with 34.4%. The Social Democrats followed with 31% and the Green party just shy of 11%. But all of these parties had seen some of their margins nibbled away by the AfD.
Die Linke (Left Party) trailed far behind with but 3.3%.
Lower Saxony’s Social Democrat leader, Stephen Weil, said that the AfD had nonetheless had an impact on the state. “We must recognise that the AfD is now a political factor in Lower Saxony.”
Last week, the AfD placed first among voters in Merkel’s home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania which had previously formed part of former East Germany. There it scored nearly 21%.
Analysts credit their gain to voters in the less economically-secure eastern region who appear to be more willing to back new parties.
In prior regional elections in March, the AfD increased its support in three other state elections, including its best-ever outcome of 24.3% in another former east German state, Saxony Anhalt. The other two votes were in western states where lower results of 15% and 12.6% were achieved.
From its formation in 2013 as Eurosceptic, the populist party has been moving over time to the right. It is believed that its opposition to the government’s refugee stance has won it support.
Observers will be watching expectantly for the outcome of next Sunday’s round of elections for Berlin’s regional government. A recent poll indicated that AfD could capture 15% of the vote.
