MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2023) Recent polls in Germany show that the right-wing opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has a chance to win its way through the local elections next year in the states that constituted former East Germany (GDR) to nominating its own chancellor candidate in the 2025 Federal election, AfD member of the German parliament Eugen Schmidt told Sputnik.
On Sunday, AfD candidate Robert Sesselmann won a district council election for the first time in Sonneberg in the eastern state of Thuringia, obtaining 52.8% of votes despite the fact that all the other parties urged their supporters to vote for Juergen Koepper from the conservative Christian Democratic Union party.
"In the regions of the former GDR, the Alternative for Germany comes out on top, according to the recent polls, surpassing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party. Leading up to the elections next year in these three eastern (federal) states, their advantages are a real headache for the ruling political elites, because, if we win, the Alternative will be able to nominate its own Chancellor candidate," Schmidt told Sputnik.
The politician also said that the party's recent success could be explained by the mistakes made by the ruling coalition which have led to record-breaking inflation, recession in the German economy, high gas and electricity prices, prevalence of the green agenda, and numerous risks related to their support of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.
Schmidt also expressed concerns over alleged attempts by the German government to control public opinion via media channels in a move to possibly ban the opposition party because of its alleged extremist nature.
"The fact that the ruling elites are in a panic because of the AfD's recent gains can be shown by the fact that the authorities have begun to carefully probe public opinion through the media for a possible ban on the Alternative, but, so far, they cannot decide to take such a step, fearing widespread public unrest," the politician said.
Schmidt added that the internal political turmoil and the loss of voter support would undermine the basis of the German government's "unquestionable support" for Ukraine.
