GERMANY – Merz’s CDU Faces Historic Defeat, AfD Strengthens Its Position

SCHWERIN, September 20 /ATSH-DPA/ – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives are heading toward their historically weakest result in a regional election, according to voter exit polls published today.

Meanwhile, the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has made significant gains in two electoral processes.

The elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in Berlin add pressure on Chancellor Merz, whose political future has become the subject of much speculation, while public approval for him has fallen significantly in recent months.

The polls, conducted by German broadcasters ARD and ZDF, show that Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is struggling to reach the 5% vote threshold needed to secure seats in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state parliament.

This result would be significantly lower than the party’s previous negative record of 9%, registered in Bremen in 1951.

Only two weeks after securing a sweeping victory in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD is expected to rank first again in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with around 37–38% of the vote.

This represents more than a doubling of its result compared to the 2021 elections.

The party, which holds an anti-immigration stance, is slightly ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of the government, with around 36% of the vote.

In Berlin, Merz’s conservatives are expected to lose control of the city-state, as exit polls show the Left (Die Linke), the political successor of the socialist party that ruled former East Germany, with a clear advantage.

It is estimated to have received around 25% of the vote, against 20% for the CDU.

The AfD in Berlin ranks next, with a projected result of 13.5% to 16% of the vote, up from the 9.1% it received in 2023.