The far-right AfD party won the leadership of a local authority in Germany on Sunday June 25. This is the first time that the party, created ten years ago, has won for the election of a “Landrat”, leader of a territorial administration grouping together several municipalities. This electoral victory confirms its rise in the polls.
Robert Sesselmann, the candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), takes control of the district of Sonneberg, in the Thuringia region, on the border with Bavaria, after winning the second round by 52.8 % of votes against the candidate of the conservative party CDU.
Germany had its eyes on the vote in this community of some 57,000 people, as the AfD surges in the polls, with between 18 and 20% of national voting intentions, according to recent studies. .
The far-right party, which entered parliament in 2017, is now neck and neck with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), behind the CDU conservatives, but clearly ahead of the Greens and Liberals (FDP). ). Its scores are even higher in the eastern regional states of Germany, including Thuringia.
The AfD plans to present a candidate for the next legislative elections
“Write history and vote for Robert Sesselmann, the AfD’s first Landrat,” urged national party chairwoman Alice Weidel in a campaign spot. The SPD, party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Greens, the FDP and the left had called to support the CDU candidate in the second round.
The regional AfD leader in Thuringia, Bjorn Höcke, is part of the most radical wing of the AfD, closely watched by the intelligence services. In three “Landrat” of the former GDR, in Thuringia but also in Saxony and Brandenburg, the region around Berlin, regional elections will be held next year. The AfD is counting on these votes to materialize its breakthrough.
Currently, all the other parties reject the idea of ??forming a coalition with the AfD, which plans to present a candidate for the chancellery for the next legislative elections in 2025.
The far-right party has increased its popularity by criticizing the government’s climate measures, accused of oppressing voters, the immigration policy or the frequent internal crises of the three-party coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP liberals.