Elections will be held in Thuringia and Saxony on Sunday, and the election campaign is entering its final stretch. Recent polls show little movement in party preferences – despite the attack in Solingen.
It is the final stages before the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony: this Sunday, votes are due to take place in both states, which could create a completely new situation. Two polls see the AfD as the strongest force in Thuringia, which threatens to make the formation of a government extremely complicated. In Saxony, the CDU can legitimately hope for another election victory, and its coalition with the SPD and the Greens could even hold up.
On Friday, the parties once again campaigned vigorously for approval. Top politicians from the federal parties are also travelling to the two states for final rallies. For example, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) appeared together with top candidate Petra Köpping at the end of the Saxon Social Democrats’ election campaign in Chemnitz, which was accompanied by loud protests. Boos and whistles could be heard again and again at a rally of the small right-wing extremist party Free Saxony.
In his speech, the Chancellor stressed that Germany needs workers from other countries in the world. “Otherwise, prosperity and a future in Germany will not work out.” What is needed is openness for the labor market and for those who need protection, but also clear regulations for managing migration.” Party leader Lars Klingbeil appeared in Meiningen, Thuringia.
Habeck: The economy warns against the AfD
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) was also on the campaign trail in Saxony. He warned that the AfD could cause damage to Germany as a business location. The party is the “alternative to deindustrialization,” said Habeck in the evening at an election campaign event of the Saxon Greens in Dresden. Many companies and business associations had warned against voting for the party.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), who appeared with CDU top candidate Mario Voigt in Suhl, Thuringia, asked his audience with regard to the federal government’s package of measures following the Solingen attack and the deportation flight to Afghanistan: “Do you seriously believe that they would have done something if there hadn’t been an election on Sunday?”
AfD party chairman Tino Chrupalla said in Görlitz, Saxony, with regard to the Islamist-motivated attacks in Mannheim and presumably also Solingen: “With us, such conditions will never exist.” The state must be able to guarantee security, infrastructure and cheap energy, and the AfD rejects “patronizing” citizens.
Polls: AfD ahead of CDU in Thuringia – second in Saxony
In Thuringia, the AfD is at 29 percent according to the ZDF political barometer, clearly in first place ahead of the CDU with 23 percent and BSW with 18 percent. The Left, whose prime minister is Bodo Ramelow, is at 13 percent according to the survey by the research group Wahlen. The SPD could receive 6 percent. The Greens could miss out on a place in the state parliament with 4 percent. The figures were very similar in a survey published on Friday by the opinion research institute Forsa on behalf of the TV channels RTL and ntv.
“This means that a coalition of the CDU, BSW and SPD would currently have a narrow majority, but other coalitions that have not been ruled out would not,” said ZDF. However, an alliance between the CDU and the BSW, which emerged from the Left Party, could plunge the party into deep internal turmoil. At the same time, according to the survey, 29 percent of those surveyed are currently not sure who they want to vote for or whether they want to vote.
CDU maintains lead over AfD in Saxony
In Saxony, according to the research group Wahlen, the CDU of Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer is at 33 percent, ahead of the AfD at 30 percent. According to the survey, the Left Party would not be represented in the state parliament with 4 percent – the Greens and the SPD would each have 6 percent. The BSW is at 12 percent in the survey.
“In addition to the continuation of the government of the CDU, Greens and SPD, there would also be an equally narrow majority for an alliance of the CDU and BSW,” the election researchers said. The Forsa survey results from Friday were very similar in Saxony. There, too, 24 percent of respondents are currently not sure who or whether they want to vote for.
Election polls are generally always subject to uncertainty. Among other things, declining party ties and increasingly short-term voting decisions make it more difficult for opinion research institutes to weight the data collected. In principle, polls only reflect the opinion at the time of the survey and are not predictions of the election outcome.
Forsa boss: Uncertainty ahead of elections in Saxony and Thuringia
According to opinion researcher Manfred Güllner, the outcome in Saxony and Thuringia is unusually difficult to predict. The two state premiers – Ramelow and Kretschmer – are both very popular. This also applies to supporters of other parties, but they do not vote for the incumbents. “This is a situation, a decision matrix, that we are not used to in the old federal states,” Güllner said on Thursday at a panel discussion organized by the German Press Agency in Berlin.
Dresden political scientist Hans Vorländer expressed the expectation that the CDU could score points in Saxony with the migration debate. On the one hand, CDU federal leader Friedrich Merz gives the impression that he is taking the initiative. On the other hand, Saxony’s Prime Minister Kretschmer has always set the agenda himself. “If I’m not very much mistaken, that will pull the CDU up a bit again,” said Vorländer. “Whether it will be enough for it to become stronger than the AfD is another question.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
