By Sarah Marsh
BERLIN (Reuters) – Support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) dropped slightly in two polls published on Tuesday after 10 days of nationwide protests against the far-right party, although it remained firmly in second place.
Support for the AfD dropped 2 percentage points to 20% in a Forsa poll, the lowest level in four months. The party remained behind the opposition conservatives on 31% but still well ahead of all the three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left coalition, who together were polling 32%.
The AfD dropped 1.5 percentage points on the week to 21.5% in the poll by the German Institute for New Social Answers (INSA), behind the conservatives on 30.5% and the ruling coalition on 31%.
“The demonstrations against the AfD are supported by 37% of Germans and they are showing an impact,” INSA chief Hermann Binkert said.
The AfD however is still polling eight percentage points more than Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), he added.
The 11-year-old AfD has soared in polls over the past year – up from the 10.3 % it scored in the 2021 election, buoyed by discontent with the government’s handling of crises including the Ukraine war, inflation and pressure on public services from large-scale immigration.
Still, hundreds of thousands of Germans have demonstrated nationwide against the AfD in the past 10 days following the publication of a report revealing that two senior members had participated in a meeting where plans for the mass deportation of citizens of foreign origin were discussed.
The proposals for “unassimilated citizens” to be deported to “a model state in north Africa”, reported by outlet Correctiv, horrified many Germans. Some have compared the proposals to the Nazis’ initial plan to deport European Jews to Madagascar.
The AfD has denied the plans are party policy and co-leader Alice Weidel parted ways with one of her advisers who participated in the talks.
Still, Germany’s domestic spy chief Thomas Haldenwang has warned of extremist movements within the AfD, which is under security surveillance.
Separately, Germany’s Constitutional Court said on Tuesday authorities could cut off state funding to the successor party to the far-right NPD even though it is not banned, in a ruling which fuels a debate about whether the AfD should be penalised.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Rachel More and Gareth Jones)
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