Scholz’s party narrowly defeats far-Right AfD in crunch German vote

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats have narrowly defeated the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern German state of Brandenburg.

The victory for the party of Mr Scholz, although slight, will be a major relief to the least popular German chancellor on record, whose embattled coalition is struggling to cling to power.

The state election on Sunday in the formerly communist east was a rare bit of recent good news for his party.

The predicted results are also a blow to the AfD, which was polling high and predicted to win another state after a surge in support tied to its anti-immigration policies.

Scholz’s centre-left SPD won 30.9 per cent of the vote, while the AfD scored 29.2 per cent, according to provisional official results by the State Electoral Commissioner.

Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin like a doughnut, has been won by the SPD in every election since Germany’s reunification in 1990 and is one of its two remaining eastern strongholds.

Although one of the smallest states by population, Brandenburgh’s results are considered significant for the whole country and a strong indication of the mood of voters nationally.

The centre-Right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Left-wing anti-immigration party the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) received  11 and 12 per cent respectively of the vote, according to forecasts.

The Greens, with 4.1 per cent, are in danger of not passing the minimum 5 per cent threshold to enter the state parliament.

Turnout rose to 73 per cent from 61 per cent five years ago, according to broadcaster ZDF.

The results suggested there could be a continuation of the “Kenya coalition” of SPD, CDU and the Greens under Dietmar Woidke, Brandenburg’s popular SPD premier.

A visibly relieved Mr Woidke celebrated the projected close win in a race where just weeks ago his party had trailed the AfD in opinion polls.

The success for the SPD could give  Mr Scholz a slight reprieve from party discussions about his suitability to be once more its chancellor candidate for the federal election scheduled for next September given his unpopularity with voters.

“A great result, very great for the SPD, and for all of us,” Mr Scholz was quoted as saying by Politico on the sidelines of his visit to the United Nations in New York on Sunday.

It is unlikely, however, to give him or his party a major boost given Mr Woidke had distanced himself from Mr Scholz during the campaign and criticised the federal government’s policies.

“It was a very challenging campaign for us, but decisively we had a clear goal: we wanted to defend this state against a partly openly Right-wing extremist party,” Mr Woidke told broadcaster Tagesschau.

“We need to wait and see who can be in parliament [to form a coalition],” he added, referring to the Greens.

Kevin Kuhnert, SPD’s general secretary, said: “For us in the national SPD, when it goes well tonight the problems ahead of us don’t get bigger or smaller.

“We have a long process ahead of us if we want success in next year’s federal elections.”

The AfD, which had vowed “to send Woidke into retirement”, nonetheless hailed its strong showing, declaring it was the “strongest force in the east”.

Tino Chrupalla, the party co-leader, said it had “taken gold once and silver twice” in three elections in the east this month.

It is the third worst result for the CDU in post-war Germany’s history and its worst result in the east of the country.

A recent survey in the state found that immigration was the top concern for many voters.

The decade-old AfD has stoked and capitalised on public fears about irregular migration after a string of recent extremist attacks with suspected Islamist motives.

On Sept 1, the AfD made historic gains in former communist East Germany, becoming the strongest party in Thuringia, where it secured roughly 33 per cent of the vote.

In neighbouring Saxony, it emerged a close second with 30 per cent, narrowly losing to CDU.

Despite its ballot box success, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any state since all other mainstream parties have so far ruled out entering into a coalition with the party.

But the AfD’s rise has heaped political pressure on Mr Scholz and his governing allies, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, helping to spark further infighting.

At a national level, the three parties are now collectively polling less than the opposition conservatives, although political analysts say much could change before the federal election due in September 2025.