A new survey has revealed that 69% of Germans anticipate the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will secure at least one state premiership in the three state elections scheduled for this autumn. Conducted by the INSA polling institute for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, the poll found that 28% of respondents believe the AfD will take power in multiple states. Only 16% think the AfD will not win any state premiership, while 15% were undecided.
If the AfD fails to achieve an absolute majority, 40% of respondents favored cooperation between the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Left Party to form a state government, compared to 36% who supported a CDU-AfD coalition. Among conservative voters, the preference was even more pronounced: 48% favored a CDU-Left alliance, while only 27% backed CDU-AfD cooperation.
The survey also indicated that 38% of Germans support banning the AfD, which has long been under surveillance by the domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremist tendencies. In contrast, 47% opposed a ban. State elections will take place in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin in September.
Meanwhile, Hamburg residents voted against bidding for the Olympic Games in a referendum on Sunday. Approximately 1.3 million people were eligible to vote, with turnout at 49.5%. This marks the second time Hamburg has rejected an Olympic bid, following a similar referendum in 2015.
German tennis star Alexander Zverev advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open for the sixth consecutive year, defeating Dutch wildcard Jesper de Jong 7-6, 6-4, 6-1. Zverev, now the highest-ranked male player remaining in the tournament, will face Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) elected Wolfgang Kubicki as its new chairman with 59.3% of the vote, defeating Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who received 39%. Kubicki, who opposes the so-called 'firewall' against cooperating with the AfD, has not ruled out forming coalitions with the far-right party, highlighting internal divisions within the FDP.
Source: www.dw.com