The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is once again positioned as the most voted force in the elections of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with 38.3% support, while in the city-state of Berlin, the Left party leads the count with 25.3% backing, according to the projection made for the German public television ARD based on votes already counted.
In the capital, the Left practically doubles the result obtained in the 2023 elections and surpasses the Christian Democratic Union (CDU, 19%), which until now governed in coalition with the historic Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), relegated to fifth force with 12.1%. AfD would be in third place with 16.3% and the Greens would be fourth with 14.4%.
The CDU concedes 9.2 percentage points compared to the previous electoral event and the SPD loses 6.3 points. The Greens fall back 4 points, while AfD advances 7.2 points. Below the 5% threshold necessary to access the regional Parliament is the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW, 4.8%), while the Free Democratic Party (FPD) is limited to 2.5% of the votes.
The candidate of the Left, Elif Eralp, has reiterated one of the main promises of her program: to guarantee affordable housing. "From today we are going to change Berlin together," she emphasized.
The result of AfD in Berlin, the best in its history in the city, comes accompanied by a rise in participation, which at 4:00 PM stood at 58.5%, well above the 48.8% recorded in 2023.
Meanwhile, the former mayor-governor of Berlin for the SPD Michael Mueller (2014-2021) has warned that it will be "very difficult" to form a coalition "with these leftists." "I had a red-red-green government for five years. With these inexperienced leftists in politics, who come from activism, it is even more difficult," he argued.
AfD wins in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, AfD experiences a strong rise of 21 points, up to 38.3%, and places itself slightly ahead of the SPD of the regional president, Manuela Schwesig, who obtains 35.4% of the votes, 4.2 points less than in 2021.
At a great distance, La Izquierda appears as the third force, with 6.5% support, 3.4 points less, while Los Verdes would remain at 5.5%, 0.8 points below. The CDU would obtain 4.9%, which represents a drop of 8.4 points, the same percentage recorded by BSW (4.9%), both below the 5% threshold.
AfD has celebrated the "sensational result" in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the words of its co-leader Tino Chrupalla, who believes they have "clearly a mandate to govern" and has shown his willingness to "dialogue with all parties."
For her part, the other co-leader of AfD, Alice Weidel, has emphasized the failure of "the leftist policies" of CDU-SPD and has expressed her openness to talk with formations like the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht. "If there are common points, we can do it. Even a minority government. As far as I'm concerned, it's totally open," she stated on the ARD network.
The regional candidate of AfD, Enrico Schult, has achieved the seat by direct vote in his constituency, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte I - Vorpommern Greifswald I, with 54.1% of the votes.
In contrast, the SPD has not yet reacted to these results, which imply that the social democrats would cease to be the first force in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for the first time in 28 years. The CDU, for its part, faces what could become the worst electoral results in its history in this federal state.
The regional elections this Sunday have awakened unusually high attention following the political earthquake caused by the clear victory of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the elections of Saxony-Anhalt.
In Berlin, 2.5 million registered voters are called to elect the parliament of the city-state, while in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, 1.3 million people are summoned to the polls.
Moreover, the voting has a national reading, with a CDU chancellor, Friedrich Merz, increasingly questioned. The latest Infratest poll for the public broadcaster ARD indicates that only 10% of the German population trusts the situation in the country and that 90% views the management of the federal government negatively.