Sebastian Wippel
BERLIN: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party lost its bid to capture its first mayor’s office in the country in a bellwether election on Sunday ahead of three key regional polls.
In a run-off ballot in Goerlitz, Octavian Ursu, 51, a Romanian-born classical musician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s centre-right CDU party, drew 55.1 per cent of the vote against 44.9 for the AfD’s Sebastian Wippel, 36, an ex-policeman.
The contest for Goerlitz’s city hall was seen as a litmus test for three upcoming state elections in the ex-communist east, with the future of Merkel’s fragile right-left coalition potentially on the line.
The AfD made strong gains in Goerlitz’s economically struggling Saxony state in May’s European elections and hopes to beat Merkel’s CDU party in the upcoming regional poll.
With a population of 55,000, Goerlitz on the Polish border boasts a quaint historic town centre that has turned the town into a tourist magnet and attracted top Hollywood directors.
Goerlitz has served as a location for films such as ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, ‘Inglourious Basterds’, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ and ‘The Reader’. But many of its young citizens have turned their backs on the town due to a lack of job opportunities.
Wippel had won the first round three weeks ago with 36.4 per cent against Ursu’s 30.3 per cent.
However, Ursu had since attracted the support of the two smaller parties that were out of the race – one of them the Greens, who came third with 27.9 per cent last time.
The CDU’s Saxony state premier, Michael Kretschmer, who hails from Goerlitz, had urged voters to reject the AfD, arguing that ‘many people underestimate how radical the party is’.
The anti-immigration, anti-Muslim AfD – already represented in Germany’s parliament and all 16 regional assemblies – is polling as the strongest party in Saxony as well as Brandenburg state. — AFP