The German conservatives won hands down a crucial regional election in the former GDR and achieved a reassuring success for the party leader and contender for Angela Merkel's succession after the legislative elections in September.
According to the provisional results, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) obtains around 36% of the vote, against 22.5% for the far right of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in this ballot in Saxony-Anhalt, West Berlin, the last before the national elections on September 26 which will mark the end of Angela Merkel's 16 years in the chancellery.
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The right, carried by the popular head of the regional government Reiner Haseloff, improved its score by nearly 6 points, while the far right fell slightly with 22.5% of the vote.
“This is a sensational result.
It's a good day for the CDU, ”said CDU
Secretary General Paul Ziemiak.
"
People voted against the AfD (...) we fought in a united way, it is also a message towards Berlin
", estimated Reiner Haseloff.
Relief
The biggest party in Germany trembled in Saxony-Anhalt: while most opinion polls gave it the advantage, it was followed by the AfD.
A victory for the far right, unprecedented in a regional election, had even been predicted in a poll.
The result "
of course gives us an impetus
" for the national election and
"it is also a success of Armin Laschet"
, the head of the CDU since January, estimated the leader of the parliamentary group of the right Ralf Brinkhaus.
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Unpopular, contested even within his own ranks, the aspirant to succeed Angela Merkel sorely needed success to rally his troops and consolidate the position of the conservatives who, after falling behind the Greens in voting intentions in the national level, have regained the lead in the polls.
Even if the criticisms against him
"will not completely disappear, they will become less noisy"
, estimates the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The largest German party has gone through a crisis of confidence, linked to the government's management of the third wave of the coronavirus epidemic, which some say failed, and to the corruption scandals of its deputies during contracts for the purchase of protective masks .
The formation, which had suffered two stinging setbacks in March during regional elections, also suffered from a fierce internal struggle: the candidacy of Mr. Laschet was contested by the leader of the Bavarian party CSU Markus Söder, considered by much more suitable to lead the national campaign.
