Germany goes to the polls under threat of far-right explosion.
AfD appears in 2nd place in the polls, which point to fragmentation.
Ansa Brazil - Germany goes to the polls this Sunday (23) for early legislative elections that could mark the best result for the far right in the country since the Nazi regime.
The election was called after the fall of center-left chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who is seeking re-election but is in third place in the polls, with only 15% of voting intentions, 10 points less than in the 2021 election.
The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Friedrich Merz, leads the polls with around 30%, followed by the ultranationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD), with just over 20%, which has been boosted by American billionaire Elon Musk.
The AfD obtained 10% of the vote in the last elections and could double its representation in Parliament, although all other parties promise to maintain a "sanitary cordon" to exclude the far-right party from a future government. The party gained strength in the wake of the mass arrival of immigrants and refugees in Germany since the mid-2000s and has been trying to exploit recent attacks carried out by foreigners in the country, such as the attack by a Saudi national that killed five people in Magdeburg last December.
The scenario outlined by the polls, however, indicates a divided Parliament: although leading, the CDU is not expected to achieve a majority and will need to seek alliances to bring Merz to the position of chancellor, probably with the SPD, which may still not be enough.
The Greens, led by Robert Habeck and members of the Scholz government, are in fourth place with around 12%, while the Left Party is fifth with 7,5%. The Free Democratic Party (FDP), which triggered the early elections by breaking with Scholz, is struggling to surpass the 5% threshold to enter Parliament.
"I don't believe in miracles, but in victory," the unpopular center-left chancellor asserted. Merz, the favorite to win, promised that Germany will have a "strong voice in the European Union," facing threats from China, Russia, and even the United States. "We must be at the main table and assert our interests," he affirmed.