The populist anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on course for a series of stunning victories in elections in the German states of Saxony and Thuringia.
In Saxony, exit polls suggest the AfD will come a close second to the conservative CDU, with 31% and 32% of the vote respectively. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SDP) could only manage a measly 7% of the vote.
In Thuringia, the AfD fared even better and is on course to win, with 33% of the vote. The CDU placed a distant second, on 24%, and the SDP did even worse, with 6%.
The AfD’s stunning successes can be attributed to young and working-class voters. The AfD won the most votes from young voters in both states and over 50% of the working-class vote. The party didn’t do quite as well with pensioners however, more of whom voted for the CDU.
🇩🇪‼️ Election Earthquake:
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 2, 2024
The AfD not only won the youth vote, it won nearly half of the working-class vote in both Saxony and Thuringia.
🔵49% of blue-collar workers in Thuringia
🔵46% of blue-collar workers in Saxony
In Thuringia, it won 37% of 18 to 24-year-olds. pic.twitter.com/wNJ2bLYnHZ
In response to the victories, AfD leader Alice Weidel said that they were an “historic success,” and that she believed voters have given the AfD a mandate to govern.
“Without the AfD, it is impossible to form a stable government.”
The conservative CDU has ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with the AfD.
The AfD has risen to prominence in recent years as a result of Germany’s deepening social crisis as a result of mass migration. The growth of the party has been greeted with dismay by Germany’s ruling elites and there have been persistent suggestions that the party might be banned. AfD politicians and supporters have been subject to legal sanctions, intimidation and violence.
Top Economist Martin Armstrong’s Computer Warns 2024 Will Probably Be Our Last Election
