Germany's AfD right-wing party hits record high of 22% in new poll

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Jul 2023 20:53
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Conducted from July 17-21 among 1,266 German citizens, the survey showed that support grew by 2 percent week-on-week and two-fold year-on-year.

An election campaign poster of right-wing AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann on a street on the outskirts of the city of Sonneberg at the German federal state of Thuringia, July 5, 2023 (AP)

Results from an opinion poll conducted by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) for the German newspaper Bild revealed on Saturday that the German right-wing opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has hit a record high of 22 percent in support from eligible voters.

Conducted from July 17-21 among 1,266 German citizens, the survey showed that support grew by 2 percent week-on-week and two-fold year-on-year.

This makes it the second party in ranks after the opposition bloc, which consists of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria parties.

The survey showed that the opposition bloc garnered 26 percent of backing.

The poll found that the governing coalition made up of the center-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (18%), the Alliance 90/The Greens party (14%), and the Free Democratic Party (7%), did not record an increase in support among eligible voters and together gained 39%, a level below the required minimum to have a majority in the German parliament.

The AfD has been experiencing a surge in popularity, reaching record highs in opinion polls. This recent success follows their first district election win just a month ago.

On July 2, the party achieved another victory as their candidate was elected a full-time mayor, further strengthening the party's position in the country.

On June 26, The Spectator issued a report by Katja Hoyer, an Anglo-German historian, who explained that widespread sentiments of unhappiness in Germany may have led to the rise and popularity of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD).

According to her, the existing status quo appears to have enraged and disillusioned entire populations.

Earlier, at the end of May, a poll published by the Bild revealed that support for the AfD party has increased its popular base to a five-year high amid growing distrust towards the Greens.

Hoyer detailed to The Spectator that more Germans are now abandoning conventional politics. Recent polls demonstrate that the ruling coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and Liberals (FDP) would presently receive only 38% of the vote, while the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) would take 19% on its own, more than any of the three existing ruling parties, including chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD.

This is the highest the AfD has ever scored at the federal level in its ten-year history. Sunday's municipal elections in Sonneberg, a district of only 56,000 people in the eastern state of Thuringia, demonstrated how readily ideology may be translated into genuine political power.