Major gains for FDP and AfD CDU in front in parliamentary elections in NRW
Düsseldorf · The CDU and SPD also suffered heavy losses in North Rhine Westphalia. The AfD only came in fourth place but the other parties are worried and in Cologne there was a spontaneous demonstration against the right-wing populists.
With heavy losses for the CDU and SPD and large gains for the FDP and AfD, voters in the parliamentary elections significantly shifted the political balance of power in North Rhine Westphalia. According to a WDR projection, the CDU and Social Democrats each had their worst ever results in a Bundestag vote in NRW on Sunday. The FDP came in third in NRW ahead of the AfD.
According to projections (at 11pm) the CDU was the winner in NRW with 32.7 per cent of the vote, a good 7 percentage points less than in the 2013 election. The SPD came next with 26 per cent, 6 per cent less than four years ago. The FDP more than doubled their share of the vote to 13.2 per cent and the AfD won 9.4 per cent. While the FDP had a significantly better result than nationally (10.6 per cent), in NRW the AfD was below its national result of 13 per cent. In NRW the Greens won 7.6 per cent and Die Linke (the Left Party) 7.3 per cent. Both parties are therefore somewhat weaker in NRW than nationally.
The SPD leadership in NRW reacted to the heavy electoral defeat by refusing to continue with the grand coalition. SPD regional head Michael Groschek called the Social Democrats performance “a historic defeat.” The party was in an “existential crisis.” He said they must take on the role of leaders of the opposition in the federal government, as they have already been doing for some weeks in NRW.
Minister-President Armin Laschet (CDU) criticised the Social Democrats’ refusal to take part in government at a federal level. “I would have liked the Social Democrats to at least enter into talks,” said Laschet on ZDF television. Germany is in a “very unusual situation.” “You can’t indulge in party political games. Everyone must now take the important issues into account.”
In the Ruhr, the AfD has apparently gained more votes in the federal election than in the state elections four months ago. In Gelsenkirchen, the party gained 17 per cent of second votes. In Cologne, at times up to 700 people came together to protest against the entry of the AfD into the German parliament.
According to a WDR projection, voter turnout was up by three per cent to 75.5 per cent. The large turnout meant additional ballot papers had to be delivered, sometimes by taxi, in Cologne and Mönchengladbach.
(Original text: dpa. Translated by Kate Carey.)
