AfD reaches record 30% in poll as Merz-led coalition weakens

A new public-opinion poll shows the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a record 30 percent, dealing a fresh blow to the coalition led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz as the country heads into regional votes.

The survey, carried out by INSA and published in a national paper, places the AfD on a one-point rise and gives it a 12 percentage-point lead over the conservative bloc formed by the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, which has fallen below 20 percent.

Regional votes as a political test

The poll was released ahead of state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, seen as an important barometer of national momentum. In last month’s contest in Saxony-Anhalt the AfD secured 43.8 percent of the vote, underscoring the challenge facing Merz and his partners.

The poll also registered strong dissatisfaction with Chancellor Merz: nearly 80 percent of respondents said they were unhappy with his performance — a decline of one percentage point compared with an early-September survey. Approval of the federal government stood at just 14 percent, three points lower than in early September.

The head of the agency that conducted the survey warned that parties in the ruling coalition will have to undertake profound changes if they want to reverse the negative trend.

Commenting on the figures, the report noted: “The far-right party led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla rises by another percentage point and for the first time in INSA’s polls reaches 30 percent. Thus, the lead now stands at 12 percentage points. And in other surveys, the AfD has recently further increased the gap.”

Photo: press material from the event