Germany: Beginning of the End of the Merkel Era?

by Soeren Kern • September 10, 2016 at 5:00 am

The anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged ahead of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Merkel's open-door migration policy and her decision to allow more than one million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to enter Germany in 2015.
Merkel rejected any course correction on migration policy: "I am very unsatisfied with the outcome of the election. Obviously it has something to do with the refugee question. I think the decisions that were made were correct." She went on to blame German voters for failing to appreciate her government's "problem-solving abilities".
Many of the AfD's positions were once held, but later abandoned, by the Merkel's CDU.
A September 1 poll showed Merkel's popularity rating has plunged to 45%, a five-year low. More than half (51%) of those surveyed said it would "not be good" if Merkel ran for another term in 2017.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) suffered a major blow on September 4 when the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany, led by Frauke Petry (right), surged ahead of her Christian Democratic Union in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a major blow on September 4 when the anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged ahead of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in elections in her home state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.

With 20.8% of the vote, the AfD came in second place behind the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) (30.6%). Merkel's CDU came in third place, with 19% of the vote, the worst result it has ever had in Meck-Pomm, as the state is called for short.

The election in Meck-Pomm was widely seen as a referendum on Merkel's open-door migration policy and her decision to allow more than one million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to enter Germany in 2015. The migrant influx has resulted in a notable increase in crime in the country. The growing sense of insecurity has been exacerbated by a series of attacks this summer by Muslim migrants in which ten people were killed and dozens more were injured.