The right-wing Alternative for Germany party is making unprecedented headway, as its support has broken new records for many consecutive months now. The party is already overtaking the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) by a country-wide margin. Meanwhile, the left-wing and liberal parties are suffering a series of heavy defeats in various municipal and state elections, the V4 news agency reported.
According to a fresh ARD Deutschlandtrend survey, the triple coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals only commands 33% of the vote, while the AfD is already stronger than the SPD and FDP combined, with 23% of the vote nationwide.
The SPD only has around 15 percent support in its own right, while 13 per cent would vote for the Greens and 5 per cent for the FDP. Given that the parliamentary threshold is 5 per cent, the FDP is on the verge of being eliminated, which could render the governing coalition unstable in the coming months. This is the worst result for the Social Democrats during this cycle, as the SPD secured 25.7 per cent of the vote in the federal elections some two years ago. Meanwhile, the FDP has seen its share of the vote halve since 2021, when it received 11.5 per cent of eligible votes.
„As a new record in German trends surveyed by ARD, AfD currently sits at 23 per cent in this category, too! In addition, half of the people would like to see the AfD in government, where it has performed strongly so far. A great confirmation of our work!”, AfD Co-Chair Alice Weidel wrote on social media.
Whereas German political parties are firmly opposed to the idea, Germans themselves are divided on whether AfD should participate in state governments in the near future. This was revealed in a poll conducted by the Civey polling institute for Der Spiegel, and reviewed by the German Junge Freiheit newspaper. Responding to the question of „would it be acceptable for you if AfD was a member of state governments in the future?”, 47 per cent said yes, and only six per cent said no.
Neuer Rekord auch im #ARD-Deutschlandtrend: die #AfD liegt nun auch hier bei 23 %! Außerdem wünschen sich 50 % der Bürger die AfD dort in der Regierung, wo sie stark abgeschnitten hat. Eine tolle Bestätigung unserer Arbeit! #DeshalbAfD #BereitfuerMehr pic.twitter.com/mDFfvv8v69
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) October 13, 2023
