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POLITICS

AfD drops in popularity, Greens and Christian Democrats on the up: Poll

The popularity rating of Alternative for Germany (AfD) has fallen after Germany’s intelligence agency stepped up surveillance of the party, a new poll shows.

Published: 22 January 2019 16:03 CET
Updated: 22 January 2019 17:52 CET
AfD drops in popularity, Greens and Christian Democrats on the up: Poll
An AfD stand during a recent European election meeting hosted by the party in Riesa, Saxony. Photo: DPA

This is a German language learner article. The words in bold are translated at the bottom of the article.

On Monday an Insa opinion poll by Bild newspaper showed the anti-immigration AfD at 13 percent – a drop of 1.5 percentage points – the party’s worst figure for about a year, and fourth place in the current party ranking.

The survey results came after Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) last week declared that it had officially designated the AfD a “review case”, meaning it will step up monitoring of political extremism within the group.

The winners of the poll, which asks a sample of voters who they would vote for if an election was held this week, were the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Socialists (CDU/CSU).

The CDU/CSU gained two points bringing them to 31 percent. The Greens remain the second strongest force with 19.5 percent (+1.5 points), followed by the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), who were placed at 13.5 percent, just ahead of the AfD.

SEE ALSO: In depth: Is the AfD becoming too extreme?

Survey would make two coalitions possible

According to the Bild survey, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) remain at 9.5 percent. After a slight drop, the Left Party (Die Linke) is now also at 9.5 percent.

The current poll shows two government coalitions would be possible: an alliance between the CDU/CSU and the Greens, which would account for a total of 50.5 percent of voters. With a total of 54 percent, a coalition between CDU/CSU, SPD and FDP would also be possible.

Germany’s intelligence agency shied away from immediate full surveillance of the entire AfD, including phone and email taps, the use of undercover informants and the collection of personal data on MPs.

But it was also to start full surveillance of the party's youth organization Junge Alternative (JA), which is suspected of having ties with the extremist Identitarian Movement.

And it was to place under surveillance the AfD's most far-right grouping “The Wing” (Der Flügel), led by nationalist Björn Höcke, reported the Tagesspiegel last week.

SEE ALSO: Germany's intelligence agency to step up surveillance of the AfD

German vocab

ein Rückgang (masculine) um 1,5 Prozentpunkte – a decrease of 1.5 percentage points 

das Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz – the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution 

erklären – to declare

der Prüffall – the test case or review case

politischer Extremismus – political extremism

das Parteienranking – party ranking

gewinnen/erreichen – to gain or increase

bleiben – to remain

die zweitstärkste Kraft – the second strongest force

Umfrage würde zwei Koalitionen ermöglichen – Survey would make two coalitions possible

aktuellen – current

das Bündnis – the alliance

sofortige vollständige Überwachung – immediate full surveillance

verdeckte Informanten – undercover informants

verdächtigt – suspected



 

Member comments

  1. It would be better if the bold words in the article are in German. At least then we could try to understand them before looking up the translation at the bottom of the article.

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POLITICS

Germany’s biggest companies campaign against far right parties ahead of the EU elections

Germany's biggest companies said Tuesday they have formed an alliance to campaign against extremism ahead of key EU Parliament elections, when the far right is projected to make strong gains.

Published: 7 May 2024 14:06 CEST
Germany's biggest companies campaign against far right parties ahead of the EU elections

The alliance of 30 companies includes blue-chip groups like BMW, BASF and Deutsche Bank, a well as family-owned businesses and start-ups.

“Exclusion, extremism and populism pose threats to Germany as a business location and to our prosperity,” said the alliance in a statement.

“In their first joint campaign, the companies are calling on their combined 1.7 million employees to take part in the upcoming European elections and engaging in numerous activities to highlight the importance of European unity for prosperity, growth and jobs,” it added.

The unusual action by the industrial giants came as latest opinion polls show the far-right AfD obtaining about 15 percent of the EU vote next month in Germany, tied in second place with the Greens after the conservative CDU-CSU alliance.

A series of recent scandals, including the arrest of a researcher working for an AfD MEP, have sent the party’s popularity sliding since the turn of the year, even though it remains just ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats.

Already struggling with severe shortages in skilled workers, many German enterprises fear gains by the far right could further erode the attractiveness of Europe’s biggest economy to migrant labour.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW – Why racism is prompting a skilled worker exodus from eastern Germany

The alliance estimates that fast-ageing Germany currently already has 1.73 million unfilled positions, while an additional 200,000 to 400,000 workers would be necessary annually in coming years.

bmw worker

, chief executive of the Dussmann Group, noted that 68,000 people from over 100 nations work in the family business.

“For many of them, their work with us, for example in cleaning buildings or geriatric care, is their entry into the primary labour market and therefore the key to successful integration. Hate and exclusion have no place here,” he said.

Siemens Energy chief executive Christian Bruch warned that “isolationism, extremism, and xenophobia are poison for German exports and jobs here in Germany – we must therefore not give space to the fearmongers and fall for their supposedly simple solutions”.

The alliance said it is planning a social media campaign to underline the call against extremism and urged other companies to join its initiative.

READ ALSO: A fight for the youth vote – Are German politicians social media savvy enough?

It added that the campaign will continue after the EU elections, with three eastern German states to vote for regional parliaments in September.

In all three — Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony — the far-right AfD party is leading surveys.

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