POTSDAM: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats were narrowly ahead of the far-right AfD on Sunday in a state election in the formerly communist east, according to exit polls.

Scholz’s centre-left SPD won 31 to 32 per cent of the vote, a slight lead over the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, which scored 29 to 30pc according to exit polls by the two main public broadcasters.

If confirmed, the result would offer a rare moment of respite for Scholz’s embattled coalition government that has taken a dive in opinion polls a year ahead of national elections.

The polls in Brandenburg state have been closely watched because Scholz’s SPD has ruled there ever since Germany’s 1990 reunification and because the chancellor’s electoral district is in the state capital Potsdam, outside Berlin.

The AfD, which rails against asylum-seekers, multiculturalism, Islam and Scholz’s government, had hoped to replicate its recent electoral success in the east. Three weeks ago, it stunned the political establishment by taking first place in a parliamentary vote, for the first time ever, in the eastern state of Thuringia and coming a close second in neighbouring Saxony.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2024