The AfD party does not seize Thuringia, but makes substantial progress.
Far-right enthusiasts rejoice over surprise achievements: The AfD secures second strongest position alongside the CDU in the Thuringia regional elections.
Tommy Frenck, a known far-right extremist, shares his excitement through his online platforms, celebrating his advancement to the second round of voting for the county council chair in Hildburghausen. On his Facebook page, where he advertises his cookbook "The 88 Best Meat Dishes from the Reich," he ends the post with five exclamation points - a number that holds significance, with "8" standing for "Heil Hitler" and "18" representing Adolf Hitler. The tatted-up ex-NPD member is a well-known figure in the Central German extremist scene.
Thirty-four thousand six hundred and nineteenth voters cast their ballots for Frenck as the next county council chairman on Sunday, and this remarkable result is largely attributed to the AfD not putting forth a candidate of their own. Although the AfD remains the main winner in the Thuringia local elections, the ongoing decreasing popularity of the party due to scandals, such as radical deportation ideas, bribery accusations, and espionage allegations as well as being under surveillance by the Constitutional Protection Agency had no effect in Thuringia. The dream of a "blue wave" where the AfD would take over multiple county council seats has not yet surfaced.
In nine of the thirteen districts, AfD candidates are moving into the second round, a success for the particularly far-right Thuringian state association led by Björn Höcke. This triumph was possible despite Höcke being recently convicted for using a national socialist slogan. Last year, the AfD gained its first county council seat in Thuringia's Sonneberg, and another will not likely follow.
The chances for the AfD to claim any county council seats in the June 9th runoff elections - simultaneous with European elections - are slim. Voters of democratic parties might cohesively vote for their respective competitors from the CDU, SPD, and Free Voters, with only the county of Altenburg showing potential for AfD success.
In the future, the AfD will be the dominant party in the state parliaments, unless it's superseded by the CDU. Both parties have secured around 27% of the votes nationwide as 90% of the votes have been counted. The desire to brag about their respective top positions will be tarnished by their slight differences in voter shares.
The AfD and CDU share a similar advantage over the coalition of the SPD, Greens, FDP, and Left. Although the latter has a popular Minister President, Bodo Ramelow, the high voter turnout at a local election did not significantly disadvantage the AfD.
The CDU's edge in the county councils is largely due to votes from non-AfD voters. This observation is evident in the case of Hildburghausen, where CDU candidate Dirk Lindner lost by only 0.2 percentage points to Frenck. It was not possible to form a municipal alliance against Frenck in Hildburghausen, unlike in other districts opposing the AfD.
The recent election result showcases a significant development: the CDU aims to become the primary competitor of the AfD by using their leading candidate, Mario Voigt. Voigt made a headline-grabbing move by facing off against Höcke in a televised debate in April. This was a strategic attempt to turn the state parliamentary election into a competition between the CDU and AfD, hoping to eventually occupy second place behind the AfD. Yet, the exact percentage required for leadership remains uncertain.
Ramelow's Left-wing government, which has been collaborating with the SPD and Greens since 2020, may not have a guaranteed re-election. Although a swap could potentially occur, a renewed alliance including the Greens and SPD is not necessarily guaranteed.
The outlook for the BSW is promising. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance records a 16% rating in a survey by infratest dimap rankings, trailing only the CDU and AfD in terms of popularity. The BSW made its debut during local elections, managing to score double-digit figures in several regions where it ran on their own platform. These locations include the Wartburgkreis, Sonneberg, and Greiz, amongst others. BSW's performance in the Greiz district has yielded a preliminary 11.1% result, demonstrating their initial success.
While the SPD may not have the highest priority in this election, the party considers it a victory. With roughly 11% of the votes, they are ranked as the third most influential political group. Baden-Wuerttemberg's SPD leader, Georg Maier, remarked that social democratic municipal politics witnessed an upswing on Sunday. The SPD performed strongly in Kyffhaeuserkreis, Unstrut-Hainich district, and Gotha, with incumbent SPD Landrats citing a 40% success rate or higher. However, Erfurt's social democratic mayor, Andreas Bausewein, scored only 22.7% in the election, lagging behind the CDU challenger by 5.5%.
Among the notable casualties are the Greens and the Left. The Greens, who are comparatively weaker in the eastern regions, suffered a substantial setback, observing a 50% decline in their previous election results. The Left, a previously highly influential party in eastern Germany, also experienced a significant dip from 14% to 8.5%, indicating their continued fall from prominence. The FDP's prospects are dim as well, with only 2.7% of the votes, just barely above the 5% threshold for entering the state parliament. It's challenging for 27-day minister president Thomas Kemmerich to rejoin the state parliament with such dismal results. A state parliament consisting solely of CDU, BSW, and AfD is an option at present. The CDU has yet to rule out a partnership with BSW, while the BSW, like CDU, loathes teaming up with the AfD. Thus, the newcomers may be granted executive positions.
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- Despite not capturing Thuringia, the AfD party makes significant gains during the Local elections, securing the second strongest position alongside the CDU.
- Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD's Thuringian state association, celebrates the party's success in nine of Thuringia's thirteen districts, despite his recent conviction.
- In Jena's local elections, Alliance 90/The Greens and the SPD suffer setbacks, while the CDU, AfD, and the newly formed BSW Alliance make notable advances.
- During the State elections in Thuringia, the CDU aims to become the main competitor of the AfD by leveraging their leading candidate, Mario Voigt, who challenged Höcke in a televised debate.
- Despite the weak performance of the SPD and the Greens in Thuringia's local elections, the Left-wing government led by Minister President Bodo Ramelow vows to maintain its coalition with the SPD and Greens for the upcoming state elections.
Source: www.ntv.de
