From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 52 minutes ago, now updated
Chancellor Olaf Scholz. LIESA JOHANNSEN / Portal
Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals of the FDP are in retreat in the two elections in Bavaria and Hesse.
The three parties of Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition suffered a stinging defeat on Sunday in elections in two large conservative stronghold regions, which, according to exit polls, are also seeing a rise in the far right. Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals from the FDP are in retreat in the two elections in Bavaria, the largest German region in terms of area, and in Hesse, where Frankfurt, the headquarters of the ECB, is located.
According to these polls, as expected, the conservatives won both elections and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could take second place. “We are on the right track,” AfD co-leader Alice Weidel reacted quickly and interpreted the results as a “punishment” for the government and a “vote for change”.
Read alsoGermany: The liberal FDP party, a key linchpin of Olaf Scholz’s coalition
Conservative opposition on the rise
In Hesse, the SPD under Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is only in fourth place (15.2%), after the AfD (16.8%) and the Greens (15.5%) and far behind the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). 34.7%. , a significant increase compared to 2018 (27%). In the medium term, Olaf Scholz’s government was sanctioned in these elections, in which popular concerns about the industrial crisis in Europe’s largest economy and the resurgence of the migration issue played a central role.
Also read: The Moscow mole was an AfD sympathizer
The focus of the campaign was primarily on criticism of the coalition that has been in power since December 2021. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a period of unity within this unprecedented government team. But since then, tensions have multiplied on everything from cuts in budget spending to measures to combat global warming.