MADEBERG, Germany (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Conservatives saw a landslide victory in the East German state elections on Sunday, a boost for Armin Laschet, whom they hope will replace in September’s federal elections.
An opinion poll by the public broadcaster MDR showed that the Christian Democrats (CDU) with 36% are more than 6 points more than five years ago and slightly ahead of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 22.5%. in previous elections.
Long-time North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Laschet had an uncertain start to his election campaign and was frustrated with calls to take a right-wing extremist course in order to win back Merkel’s 16-year-old voters. from the Middle.
The country’s prime minister, Rainer Haselov, presented himself as a centrist candidate around whom opponents of extremism could rally.
“That will give us a boost for Berlin,” said Ralph Brinkhaus, chairman of the conservative National Assembly. “It is a victory for Armin Laschet.”
The results were disappointing for most of the other parties, with the Greens second only to the Conservatives nationwide, only in single digits in regional elections.
“Sure, we would like to do better,” said her chancellor candidate Annalena Barbock.
Burbock said the Conservatives had benefited from mobilizing voters for office to thwart the extreme right, which is one point behind the Conservatives in some opinion polls.
Haselow said he did everything in his power to convince voters in the relatively impoverished region not to turn completely right.
“I have done everything necessary and possible to convince people that we need stability and a democratic center,” he told reporters in his hometown of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther hung his 95 theses about the Pope on the church door in 1517 and thus the Protestants ignited the Reformation.
Merkel, who has been in power since 2005, is stepping down after a federal election, and top CDU officials admit that it will be difficult to maintain the attractiveness of their party after 16 years in office.
(Reporting by Reuters TV and Thomas Escret; Editing by Jean Harvey, Alexander Smith and Frances Kerry)
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