Anti-Immigration AFD Party Now 2nd Most Popular Party in Germany
John Cody, Remix, May 16, 2023
For the first time, the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has not only overtaken the Green party but also the Social Democrats (SPD), and become the second most popular party in Germany, according to a new YouGov poll.
The poll shows, AfD would garner 17 percent of the vote, which puts it in front of the SPD and Greens by one point, with both parties at 16 percent. The Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) still dominate at 31 percent.
A number of other polls have already placed the AfD in front of the Greens, but this is the first time it has topped the SPD, which fell four points from April.
As Remix News reported this month, the Insa polling agency indicated that the potential voting pool for AfD is the largest in the country and could give it up to 26.5 percent in an election, with most of these potential voters coming from the FDP party.
The poll from YouGov, however, paints a bleak picture for the FDP, which belongs to a three-party coalition governing Germany, which is also made up of the Greens and SPD. Currently, the FDP stands at 5 percent. If the party were to fall below 5 percent, it would render it unable to enter Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.
The AfD draws much of its support from its position against mass migration, sanctions on Russia, and green policies.
Germany saw nearly 1.5 million migrants arrive in 2022. So far, this number shows no signs of slowing in 2023, with the government set to spend €36 billion this year alone. In the first three months of 2023, over 160,000 migrants arrived in the country.
