Scholz’s SPD is slightly ahead on the right in the eastern region of Germany: Projections | Election News

Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats could win 31% of the vote in Brandenburg, which is slightly ahead of the AfD’s 29%, estimates show.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has narrowly defeated the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in local elections in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, projections show.

Scholz’s left-wing SPD won about 31 percent against the anti-immigration and anti-Islam AfD, which got about 29 percent, according to Sunday’s public broadcaster projections.

The result in the former communist east offers a rare respite for Scholz’s coalition government, which has been mired in ideological debate for a year before national elections.

However, he is unlikely to give him or his party much of a boost as the popular SPD prime minister, Hubert Dietmar Woidke, distanced himself from Scholz during the campaign and criticized the coalition government’s policies.

The Brandenburg election was closely watched because Scholz’s SPD has been in power there since German reunification in 1990. The chancellor’s constituency is in the state capital Potsdam, outside Berlin.

The AfD, which opposes asylum seekers, multiculturalism, Islam and the Scholz government, had hoped to win again in recent elections in the east.

Three weeks ago, the opposition surprised the political establishment by winning its first ever parliamentary vote – in the eastern state of Thuringia – and a second in neighboring Saxony.

Despite the success at the ballot box, the AfD is unlikely to take power in any case as all other major parties have so far ruled out entering into a ruling coalition with the party.

The SPD’s Woidke, who has been in office for more than a decade, has also challenged voters by telling them he will leave if the AfD wins.

The AfD, which had vowed to “send Woidke into retirement”, however praised his strong showing. Party leader Tino Chrupalla said he had “taken gold and silver twice” in three elections in the east this month.

The AfD’s comments have put political pressure on Scholz and his governing partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats. Both parties scored in the low single digits in Sunday’s provincial election.