Ceri Savage
A new election poll dropped yesterday and results are not looking good for the CDU and Governing Mayor Kai Wegner. While the Christian-Democratic party is still at the top, they are clearly losing popularity and their leadership margin is very narrow. The poll, conducted by Infratest for RBB, shows support for the CDU at a level of 19%, down 2% since the beginning of April and almost 10% since the last election, where they won with 28.2%.
The Left Party, Greens and AfD are all trailing behind them with 18% each, with the SPD following at 14% and other parties falling below the threshold. While this could potentially open up the way for a red-red-green coalition following the election on September 20, it unfortunately also represents a new record high score for the AfD.
The recent resignation of Culture Senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson following the scandal surrounding her illegal allocation of millions of euros to Jewish art projects coincides with the CDU’s drop in popularity. However it is likely not the only reason for the poll results, as the satisfaction with Kai Wegner’s government has declined by almost half since June last year. In light of this, Berliner Zeitung speculates that Stefan Evers, Finance Senator as well as Wedl-Wilson’s to-be successor in the culture department, could potentially be on track to become the CDU’s new candidate for mayor.
While the election is still almost five months away and a lot can change by then, it is nonetheless clear that the CDU is losing credibility with pushing law-and-order politics whilst turning a blind eye to unlawful practices behind their own closed doors. It remains to be seen whether the more left-leaning parties in Berlin’s parliament can successfully capitalise on this popular dissatisfaction when election day comes, but they do appear to be on the right track.