Record result for Musk-backed far-right party in German elections
A controversial far-right political party backed by Elon Musk has surged to a record election result in Germany, as the ruling Social Democrats suffered a resounding defeat.
Vote counting projections in the German national election on Monday morning (AEDT) showed the country had undergone a major shift to the right.
The opposition conservatives, the CDU/CSU, won the election with 28.5 per cent of the vote.
But a minor party, which advocates blood-based citizenship and is promoted by Musk, the world’s richest man, came second with its best-ever result, exit polls show.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieved the best showing for a far-right political party in Germany since the end of World War II.
The 12-year-old AfD, which promotes the white nuclear family as the ideal, has almost doubled its share of the vote compared to the last election in 2021 — its best result yet.
However, the AfD is unlikely to govern as all mainstream parties have ruled out working with it. Some analysts believe the strength of the weekend’s vote could pave the way for an AfD win in 2029.
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Sunday’s election followed a campaign dominated by fierce exchanges over the perception that immigration is out of control, fuelled by in which the suspected perpetrators have been migrants.
It was also overshadowed by the unusually forceful show of solidarity by members of the Trump administration – including Vice President JD Vance and meddling tech billionaire Musk – for the anti-migrant AfD and broadsides against European leaders.
Support for the AfD, along with a small but significant vote share for the far left and the decline of Germany’s big-tent parties, is increasingly complicating the formation of coalitions and governance.
The conservative CDU/CSU bloc won 28.5 per cent of the vote, followed by the AfD with 20 per cent, an exit poll published by ZDF public broadcaster showed on Sunday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) tumbled to their worst result since WWII, with 16.5 per cent of the vote share, according to the ZDF exit poll.
The Greens were on 12 per cent while the FDP hovered around the 5 per cent threshold to enter parliament.
A late campaign surge by the far left Die Linke party gave it 9 per cent of the vote while breakaway leftist party BSW led by Sahra Wagenknecht squeezed in on 5 per cent.
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The results set the stage for protracted coalition talks and likely mean a three-way coalition made up of one or two of the three same parties that were part of Scholz’s unpopular alliance that collapsed in November.
US billionaire Elon Musk boosted the far-right AfD party ahead of Germany’s election. Photo: AAP
Merz, 69, has no previous government experience but has promised to provide greater leadership than Scholz and to liaise more with key allies, restoring Germany to the heart of Europe.
A brash economic liberal who has shifted the conservatives to the right, he is considered the antithesis of former conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, who led Germany for 16 years.
Short of a majority in an increasingly fragmented political landscape, however, his conservatives will have to sound out partners to form a coalition.
Those negotiations are certain to be tricky after a campaign that exposed sharp divisions over migration and how to deal with the AfD in a country where far-right politics carry a particularly strong stigma due to its Nazi past.
That could leave Scholz in a caretaker role for months, delaying urgently needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two consecutive years of contraction and as companies struggle against global rivals.
It would also create a leadership vacuum in the heart of Europe even as it deals with a host of challenges, including US President Donald Trump threatening a trade war and attempting to fast-track a ceasefire deal for Ukraine without European involvement.
Germany, which has an export-oriented economy and long relied on the US for its security, is particularly vulnerable.
Germans are more pessimistic about their living standards than at any time since the financial crisis in 2008.
Attitudes towards migration have also hardened, a profound shift in German public sentiment since its “Refugees Welcome” culture during Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, that the AfD has both driven and harnessed.
Sunday’s election came after the collapse last November of Scholz’s coalition of his SPD, the Greens and pro-market FDP in a row over budget spending.
– with AAP
