The election campaign posters for (R) Liberal Democrats (FDP), the left party (Die Linke), the Social Democratic Part (SPD), the Green Party (Die Grunen), and the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) are lined with AA Boulevard Street in Berlin on 20 January 2025.
John McDougal AFP | Gety pictures
BERLIN-The middle parties struggled in the German elections on Sunday, where the former Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Olaf Schools (SPD) scored the worst ever. a result Many voters also turned to the far right and left.
Speaking in Berlin shortly after the launch of the exit polls on Sunday evening, Schools said it was a “bitter” defeat.
Its SPD party received only 16.4 % of the votes, according to the preliminary test NumbersWhile the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its subsidiary, the Christian Social Union (CSU), obtained the largest share of voting, by 28.5 %. Although this means that the conservative alliance won the elections, it was still the result of the second they were at all and under the 30 % mark that was closely seen.
The parties, which have traditionally formed political parties, recorded great gains, as voters flocked to the extreme. As is widely expected, the right -wing alternative to the AFD (AFD) doubled its share from the last elections to a little more than 20 % on Sunday, making it the second largest force in the German parliament.
“This force will be a reminder to the moderate parties to quickly address the country's multiple challenges – or to face electoral turmoil that is likely to be greater in the upcoming elections.”
The Link, the left, has benefited from an unexpected offer for support, defying expectations to achieve 8.8 % of the votes, an increase of 4.9 % in the 2021 elections. Just a few weeks ago, it was not clear whether the party crossed an obstacle by 5 % needed to enter Parliament in Germany.
“The extremist – the extreme right, the extremist left – was clear that approximately 30 %, and this entire German political scene made it more fragmented,” Carsten Barzky, Macro's global head of Inge, told CNBC on Monday in Berlin.
He added that this could preach “a new natural” in Germany.
Enhancing immigration debate
The success of the marginal parties can be greatly attributed to the issue of severely disputed immigration, according to Holgher Schmiding, the chief economist in Bernberg.
“The polarizing debate on immigration has benefited from political extremism,” CNBC told CNBC. “The most important thing is that activating the Germans who want open borders for immigrants and uninvited refugees. These voters flocked to death Lerke, the only party that prefers it,” Schmiding said in the comments via e -mail.
Germany was immersed in a fiery debate about immigration during the election campaign, as many parties used violent attacks in Germany that people committed because they were It was deported Or with a foreign background to pay for the most strict immigration laws.
CDU-CSU president and Ferdrich Mirz's adviser earlier this year had entered the hot water to push him into a non-bound movement on the immigration policy, which he led, through Parliament with the support of AFD. This was the first time in Germany's history after the war that the majority was achieved with the help of the far right.
Two other playing factors are the population and geography composition, according to Barzski in NG.
He said: “Die Link and AFD have achieved well on social media and made very frank campaigns on social media, which was well successful.” AFD key ago.
Data He explains that the two parties are especially popular with younger voters, as Die Linke became the most popular party among children between the ages of 18 and 24, and gained about a quarter of their vote, followed by AFD in second place. Die Linke was also the largest party in A. Fake elections From less than 18 years old.
Geographical, Brzeski referred to AFD widespread success in East Germany, where the party content The vast majority of direct states. The extreme right -wing party has always benefited from the economic insecurity of the institution in the region, Experts told CNBC earlier this month.
The view of political extremism
Looking at the future, observers now see the risk of the maximum parties to gain power unless changes are made by the incoming medium government.
Schmiding warned that Germany's returns “need to collect its behavior and address the main issues”, such as immigration and the state of the country, saying that political extremism can continue to grow in popularity.
He said that if this happens, in the upcoming federal elections, there is no guarantee that the parties will be excluded from the government. Although AFD is the second largest party in Germany, all major groups have so far said that they will not enter an alliance with them.
Brzeski also urged caution of the capacity of the midfield, which is likely to consist of the CDU-CSU and SPD alliance, to preserve the most extreme parties. He explained that these parties that govern together – referred to as “the Great Alliance” – have already strengthened the extremist parties.
“This puts the next coalition in a truly stronger test. So if they commit, this will be AFD, really, win in the upcoming elections,” Barzeski said.
