The Alternative for Germany (AfD) remains well ahead in the polls five weeks ahead of a crucial election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the far-right party could secure an unprecedented absolute majority and take power at state level for the first time.
The latest poll by Infratest dimap on Thursday put the AfD on 41%, well above Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) on 24%.
Further back are a trio of left-wing parties: The Left on 13%, the Social Democrats (SPD) on 7% and the Greens on 5%.
The anti-immigrant AfD has never participated in a state coalition, as all other mainstream German parties refuse working with it in a policy known as the “firewall.”
But 41% could be close to earning the AfD an absolute majority in the state parliament in Magdeburg, depending on how many minor parties miss out on the 5% threshold needed to win seats.
This would allow the AfD to bypass the firewall and take control of a state government for the first time.
The state heads to the polls on September 6, two weeks before votes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin, where the AfD is also riding high in the polls.
The election campaign is expected to be influenced by the deadly Islamist attack on Berlin Pride on Saturday.
Infratest dimap surveyed 1,149 eligible voters in Saxony-Anhalt by telephone and online between July 23-28.
According to the poll, dissatisfaction with the state government in Magdeburg – comprising the CDU, SPD and Free Democrats (FDP) – continues to grow. Only 29% of those surveyed are now very satisfied or satisfied with the government’s work.
When asked which party should lead the next state government, the AfD and the CDU are almost neck and neck, according to the latest poll.