As well as discontent at the coalition’s policies, the AfD has been boosted by the issue of immigration, which has emerged as a central theme at the polls…reports Asian Lite News
Germany’s conservative parties Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) won the key regional election in Hesse and Bavaria states, dealing a heavy blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ left-wing-led national coalition.
Official figures have revealed that the CDU has taken over 34.6 per cent of the votes in the state of Hesse, while the CSU won 36.7 per cent in Bavaria.
The CSU have led the regional government almost continually since 1946. This has however, been the party’s worst result since 1958. The central-right sister parties gained first place in the two wealthy German states’ election.
In addition, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made huge gains due to voters’ dissatisfaction with the current federal government run by the coalition comprising the Social Democrats (SPD), Green Party and Free Democratic Party.
The Greens slipped slightly to 15 per cent, while the SPD is down to a catastrophic per cent. With a predicted 2.8 per cent the FDP will not even get into Parliament. The three parties have suffered losses in the two states compared to the last state elections in 2018. A quarter of voters were eligible to cast their votes in the regional elections on Sunday.
As well as discontent at the coalition’s policies, the AfD has been boosted by the issue of immigration, which has emerged as a central theme at the polls.
As elsewhere in Europe, Germany has been facing a surge of new arrivals this year that has revived memories of a major influx in 2015. In Bavaria, the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of the CDU, is expected to extend its hold on power, with state premier Soeder — seen as a potential chancellor candidate — to retain his post.
Ahead of the vote, the state’s ruling coalition was rocked by a scandal when Soeder’s deputy, Hubert Aiwanger, admitted possessing Nazi pamphlets, found in his schoolbag as a teenager in the late 1980s. Aiwanger, leader of the populist Free Voters, the junior coalition partner, managed to hang on to his job, and his party actually won more support after he claimed he was victim of a “witch hunt”.
In contrast, the parties from Scholz’s coalition are expected to lose support compared to the last elections in 2018, and the FDP may not even meet the threshold to get into the state parliament. The SPD has sought to make gains in Hesse by fielding a heavyweight, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, but the party is also forecast to lose support while the CDU is on course to remain in power.
The CDU — the main opposition at the national level — will thus retain its state premier, Boris Rhein. A poor result in the polls could cause more problems for the coalition in Berlin and could make the FDP, which has sometimes sought to block proposals by coalition partners, even harder to work with, analysts warn. “(The party) could take an even sharper tone, which could make substantive cooperation more difficult,” said Leininger.
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