Two German states go to the polls after far-right gains

ANALYSISFar-right AfD defeated German chancellor’s CDU in recent Saxony-Anhalt state election, casting doubt on his future.Published On 20 Sep 202620 Sep 2026Voters in two German states will go to the polls on Sunday, as far-right and far-left gains threaten to affect the political standing of Chancellor Friedrich Merz.Merz, according to a report by the AFP news agency, has scheduled a crisis meeting of his Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), skipped this week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York, and cleared his calendar to deal with potential aftershocks from the votes in Berlin and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.Pressure on Merz has been mounting after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) delivered a major defeat to his CDU party two weeks ago in the key state of Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD fell just short of an absolute majority, which would have allowed it to govern on its own.And after just 16 months in power, Merz’s approval ratings have plunged to about 14 percent, the latest polls suggest, as he struggles to push through promised economic and social welfare reforms with his centre-left coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), raising do...