Support for the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has soared to its highest level in over a year as the recent election-winning centre-right party continues caving to the demands of leftist parties.
There is apparently growing dissatisfaction with the outcome of last month’s elections in Germany, after which the so-called conservative Union of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) opted to seek a partnership with the election-losing Social Democrats rather than pairing with the AfD.
According to a survey from the research institute Forsa, the Union’s support has fallen to 27 per cent, a decline of a point and a half over just the past four weeks. In comparison, the AfD’s support has risen by over two points to 23 per cent, the highest level for the party since December 2023, Welt reports.
The leftist Social Democrats fell by over two points to 14 per cent, while the Greens remained relatively steady at 12 per cent. Rounding out the pack, the radical Die Linke (The Left) party jumped to 11 per cent.
Perhaps most concerningly for the Union, — formerly led by ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel — confidence in likely incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz has declined rapidly since winning the election.
According to the survey, just 34 per cent believe Merz will be a good leader of the country, a four-point decline since last month’s vote. Conversely, 58 per cent (a six-point rise) don’t have confidence in his leadership abilities.
The damning polling comes as Merz orchestrated an agreement with the Social Democrats and the Greens to amend the German constitution to pave the way for a trillion euro defence and infrastructure package by lifting debt spending restrictions.
The Bundestag passed the legislation on Tuesday during a special session to avoid the upcoming changes to the parliament according to the election at the end of the month, after which the AfD and The Left would have enough seats to block the vote.
Even after skirting the election results by forcing a vote in the outgoing parliament, Merz was still forced to make heavy concessions to see the constitutional changes pushed forward, including committing 100 billion euros for “climate action” and enshrining a commitment to “climate neutrality” by 2045 in the constitution.
The vote was hailed by establishment figures in Germany and across Europe as a significant step towards the continent being able to fund its own defence rather than relying on the protection of the United States.
However, the Alternative for Germany criticised the government’s capitulation to leftist demands, subversion of the election results, and reliance on debt to fund the massive spending increase.
AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel said, “Gigantic debts have been agreed to. The election losers SPD and Greens are popping corks,” while warning that the debt would impoverish future generations and distort credit markets throughout the Eurozone.
Alternative for Germany co-leader Tino Chrupalla remarked: “The most valuable asset politicians have is credibility. With these embarrassing actions, dear Mr Merz, you’ve already completely lost yours.
“The voters feel betrayed by you — and rightly so.”
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