Crucial test for Merkel’s conservatives in Germany regional vote
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BERLIN, June 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Angela Merkel’s conservatives could face a far-right upset at key state polls on Sunday, the last big test of Germany’s political mood before the first general election in 16 years not to feature the veteran chancellor.
Surveys have the extreme-right AfD neck-and-neck with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, with a recent poll by the Bild daily even predicting the anti-immigration party will for the first time win a regional vote.
Victory for the AfD would be a devastating blow for the conservatives just four months ahead of Germany’s national election on September 26, and could further weaken the already fragile standing of Merkel’s would-be successor Armin Laschet.
Angela Merkel's conservatives could face a far-right upset at key state polls on Sunday, the last big test of Germany's political mood before the first general election in 16 years not to feature the veteran chancellor. Victory for the AfD would be a devastating blow for the conservatives just four months ahead of Germany's national election on September 26, and could further weaken the already fragile standing of Merkel's would-be successor.
With COVID-19 cases declining across Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said special centralized measures can end. But she warned that the virus has not yet gone away.