The right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has secured a mayoral post for the first time, albeit in a town with only about 9,000 inhabitants.
On Sunday, the AfD candidate for mayor in Raguhn-Jessnitz, in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, received more than 51 percent of the vote.
The result is a new breakthrough for the AfD, which also has a district councilor since last week. The party is also on the rise nationally. According to a recent poll, the party has more than 19 percent of the vote. The right-wing populists are therefore still behind the CDU, but ahead of the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. His social democratic SPD would now receive only 17 percent of the vote in national elections.
According to analysts, the AfD owes its rise to the way in which the party responds to negative sentiment among voters about issues such as immigration and the transition to a green economy. The party even plans to nominate a chancellor candidate for the 2025 federal election. The AfD is especially popular in eastern Germany.