The right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AFD) is projected to take second place in the country’s snap elections on Sunday, with 19.5% of the vote, an exit poll published by state broadcaster ARD indicates. The Christian-Democrat CDU/CSU party is predicted to emerge victorious with 29%, according to the broadcaster’s research.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social-Democratic Party is expected to secure 16% – if confirmed, its worst showing since 1949. According to Financial Times, the party is poised for “its worst defeat since 1887.” The SPD’s partners in the now defunct traffic-light coalition, the Greens, were backed by 13.5% of the voters and the Free Democratic Party by a mere 4.9%, according to ARD’s exit poll. The Left Party can presumably count on 8.5% of the vote, with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which was created last January, debuting with 4.7%, the broadcaster reports.
Compared to the 2021 general elections, the AFD will apparently be the biggest winner, projected to improve its performance by 9.1%. The CDU has risen by 4.9%, according to the exit poll. By contrast, Scholz’s Social Democrats are presumably down by 9.7%, the Greens by 1.2%, with the FDP projected to bleed 6.5%.
Surveys in recent months have consistently shown that the ruling traffic light coalition was not widely supported by the population.
According to ARD, the AFD could get 145 out of 630 seats in the German parliament, with the CDU/CSU likely to claim 210.