How should German parties deal with the increasingly popular far-right AfD? | DW News

German politics: The latest political opinion poll from infratest-dimap shows the far-right AfD party continuing its recent surge in support.

When people were asked how they would vote if a national election were held this week, the center-right CDU/CSU comes out as the most popular party with 27% support. The AfD is up to 21% - one percentage point more than a month ago. The three government parties - SPD, Greens and Free Democrats - are all polling under 20 percent.
The AfD is not just performing strongly in the polls - it has also been clocking up successes at the ballot boxes on the local level. Recently it secured its first ever mayor in a small town in eastern Germany. And that's left the other parties debating how they should deal with the rising AfD?

The Christian Democrat CDU may still be the strongest opposition party, but the rise of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany presents them with a problem: How can they appeal to voters on the right without bolstering extremists?

In 2018, the CDU pledged not to cooperate with the AfD. Asked whether they think that is the right approach, nearly two thirds of those polled say yes. But over time, the pollsters say, that number has been falling.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz recently appeared to suggest cooperation with the AfD - at least at local level - should be considered.

70 percent of people in this poll say they think that can be the right approach in some cases - while just under a quarter think all proposals put forward by the AfD should be rejected, regardless of the content.
For more on this, we talk to DW political correspondent, Simon Young. We ask him: When it comes to cooperating with the AfD, we've seen mixed messages from the Christian Democrats. Is the firewall separating them from the far right crumbling?

#afd #germany #rightwing

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