heavy defeat for Olaf Scholz and surge of the far right during regional elections

The results do not bode well for the chancellor. The three parties of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left coalition suffered a severe defeat on Sunday October 8 in elections in Hesse and Bavaria. The first estimates also show a surge of the far right in these conservative bastions.

Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) are in clear decline in the two elections which took place in Bavaria, the largest German state in terms of surface area, where they do not reach 9%, and in Hesse, where there is Frankfurt, the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB). The rest of the coalition is not spared: the liberals of the FDP fall below the 5% mark in Hesse, while the Greens record a more moderate drop. Mid-term, the government of Olaf Scholz was thus sanctioned in elections where the population’s concern over the industrial crisis experienced by Europe’s largest economy and the resurgence of the migration issue played a central role.

Satisfaction of the far right

According to estimates, the conservatives won both elections as expected and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could take second place.“We are on the right path”, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel quickly reacted. This anti-immigration party, which also criticizes climate protection measures assimilated to high prices and constraints, has thus confirmed its surge in the polls at the national level, where it garners between 20 and 22% of voting intentions, behind the right.