A series of important state elections is concluding in eastern Germany.
In Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (north of the former GDR), polling stations opened at 8:00 AM and will close at 6:00 PM. Among other things, whether Friedrich Merz will resign depends on their results, writes DW.
The key figure for him is five percent. If his conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), fails to overcome the electoral threshold in the state parliament (Landtag) elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the northeast of the FRG, the chances for the party chairman to remain in a position of power in Berlin will be slim, observers believe. Important elections for the House of Representatives will also take place in the German capital on this day.
Ahead of the vote, the CDU was on the brink: various polls showed the party's support at six to seven percent.
The main rivalry in this state, with its capital in Schwerin, is between the ruling Social Democrats and the opposition far-right "Alternative for Germany" (AfD).
Polls show a minimal advantage for the AfD, with around 37 percent. The SPD lagged by one to two percentage points, but the gap disappeared in the final stretch.
Observers attribute this to the personal popularity of the ruling SPD Prime Minister, 52-year-old Manuela Schwesig. Her main opponent is 56-year-old Leif-Erik Holm, a Bundestag member for the AfD, a former electrician, and a former radio host.
Holm has no chance of heading the government. Even if the AfD takes first place, the party will not be able to form a coalition, as others will not agree to it. Unlike in Saxony-Anhalt, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Schwerin has not recognized the AfD as far-right extremist. Its program appears less radical.
During the election campaign, Holm proposed that after the end of Russia's war against Ukraine, which he condemned at its outset, Germany should return to purchasing Russian pipeline gas via one of the four Nord Stream pipelines that survived the sabotage. It is in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that the gas pipeline emerges from the bottom of the Baltic Sea onto land. The current Prime Minister, Social Democrat Schwesig, was previously a supporter of Nord Stream 2, but changed her position after 2022.
In Berlin, which has the status of a separate federal state, Merz's party's positions are much better than in the north, but in Berlin, the CDU could lose the important post of Governing Mayor.
A few months before the election, the CDU changed the top candidate on its electoral list — Governing Mayor Kai Wegner declined reelection amid a scandal. It turned out that during a sabotage-induced blackout at the beginning of the year, the politician kept silent about playing tennis on the first day of the crisis.
Polls show that in Berlin, three parties are running neck and neck, each with around 20 percent — the CDU, The Left Party, and the AfD. The elections in Berlin are also interesting because, for the first time, the post of Governing Mayor could be held by a representative of The Left Party — 45-year-old Elif Ererlp, a German with Turkish roots, born in Munich.
These elections conclude a mini-series of votes in eastern Germany, which, without exaggeration, the whole world is watching.
Following the failed Landtag elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, where the CDU lost half its votes and the AfD emerged victorious with a Germany-record almost 44% and a real chance to come to power for the first time, pressure on the party chairman is growing. Media openly discuss his possible replacement by a more popular politician without holding early elections.
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