The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has surged to its highest level of support as populist policies continue to gain traction in the country and support for the neo-liberal establishment wanes.
According to a survey this week from Institute for New Social Answers (INSA), the AfD has jumped by two points to 22 per cent nationally. The head of the polling organisation, Hermann Binkert said that “this is the highest value that we have ever measured for this party.”
The result, reported by Welt, means that the populist party has increased its lead over Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), which currently sits at 18 per cent, as well as the government coalition partner Greens, who only have 14 per cent support.
Although the “union” of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) is still considered the largest party in the country at 26 per cent, this only applies when both are taken collectively, otherwise, the AfD would be the single largest party.
It is also noteworthy that the struggles for Chancellor Scholz’s traffic light coalition government have not benefited the centre right Union as much as the AfD. This is likely in large part due to the CDU continuing to take blame for the country’s energy and migration woes given that both crises were ushered in under the leadership of former CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The rise of the AfD, which shocked the establishment with a surprise victory in a local election last month, has sparked panic among the political elites in Berlin, with government-funded organisation even going so far as to suggest banning the party outright to somehow protect democracy.
The good result from the AfD in the latest round of polling comes as another survey earlier this month showed a growing support for anti-mass migration and anti-woke populist policies are gaining ground in the country.
According to a poll conducted by INSA found that should former leader of The Left party in the Bundestag, Sahra Wagenknecht form her own populist party to run in next year’s state elections in Thuringia, her part would secure 25 per cent of the vote. Combined with the AfD, a potential partnership for the theoretical Wagenknecht party would secure 47 per cent support.
Wagenknecht, who remains one of the more popular leftist figures in the country, has effectively been sidelined and ostracised by her party for espousing opinions against the woke agenda and mass migration, which she has argued disproportionately impacts the working classes.
Even though a new Wagenknecht populist party would likely take votes from the AfD, party leaders, including Thuringia co-leader Stefan Möller, have seemingly welcomed the idea of a left-right populist alliance.
“When I look at Wagenknecht’s positions, a partnership with her seems the most likely,” Möller said.