The far-right Alternative Party for Germany (AfD) today won the regional elections in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 37.9% of the votes, but below a majority that allows it to govern, according to almost final interim results.
© Lusa
20/09/2026
by
Lusa
Da few weeks after a strong victory in Saxony-Anhalt, AfD again wins a regional election in an eastern state of Germany (and the former GDR) to more than double the result achieved in 2021 (16.7%) and beats by about two points the Social Democrats of the SPD (socialists, centre-left, currently in power), who obtained 35.7%, according to results updated after 22:00 local (21:00 Lisbon), when few electoral circles remain to be ascertained.
For the Conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the result was a “disaster”, as acknowledged by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, since they fall by 5%, the worst result of the party in any state election since World War II.
The election committee announced tonight that only on Monday afternoon will the results be published, so it should be necessary to wait until then to confirm whether the CDU effectively reaches even parliamentary representation, because 5% is precisely the threshold to enter the state parliament, and the same suspense shakes the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW, left-wing populist), currently at 4.9%.
In an election in which there was a strong rise in voter turnout (from 70.8% in 2021 to 79% this year), the third most voted force was the radical left-wing party Die Linke (The Left), with 6.5%, and the Greens also guaranteed parliamentary seat, with 5.6%.
Despite the triumph and demanding a “mandatory to govern” Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD is unable to do so since it should elect 27 or 28 Members, below the 36 seats required for an absolute majority, and all other parties reject coalitions with the far right.
The governing solution should thus go through a new coalition led by the SPD, currently in power with the Left.
SPD’s list head and current state minister Manuela Schwesig – considered the most popular party figure in all Germany – said today that “AfD will not be able to form government” and said she was willing to talk to democratic forces in search of a governance solution, advancing analysts that the most likely scenario is the expansion of the current SPD-Left coalition to the Greens.
Today's elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were awaited with great anticipation in the face of the growing success of the far right in Germany and the resounding victory achieved by AfD just two weeks ago in the elections in Saxony-Anhalt (also in East Germany), with 43.8% of the votes, the greatest electoral triumph in party history, which left the German political scene in shock, shaken today with a new triumph of the radical right.