Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has overtaken the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), a poll showed on Tuesday, days after some of the most violent protests by radical right-wingers the country has seen in decades.
Some 6,000 supporters of the AfD and anti-Islam PEGIDA joined protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz on Saturday following other demonstrations last week after a man was stabbed to death there on Aug. 26. Two immigrants were arrested for the killing.
An INSA poll on Tuesday put the AfD up half a percentage point at 17 per cent, with the SPD, who share power with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, slipping by the same amount to 16 per cent. Merkel’s bloc was on 28.5 per cent.
Germany’s next electoral test comes on Oct. 14 when Merkel’s Bavarian allies face a major challenge from the AfD for state government.
The AfD, the third-biggest party in last year’s election and main opposition, seized on the killing of a 35-year old German in Chemnitz and the subsequent arrests of a Syrian and Iraqi to ramp up criticism of Merkel’s open-door asylum policy.
Prosecutors said on Tuesday they are looking for a third suspect and Der Spiegel reported there was some doubt about the identity of two already under arrest.