‘Disaster’: Far left wins in Berlin, far right in Germany’s northeast vote

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state premier and top Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate, Manuela Schwesig, holds a bouquet of flowers on stage after the announcement of the first exit poll results at SPD's election party in Schwerin, Germany, on September 20, 2026 [AFP]

Germany’s far-left ⁠party ⁠Die Linke (the Left) has been projected to win the ⁠most votes in a state ⁠election in Berlin, exit polls show, though it ‌would need allies to take control of the mayor’s office in the German capital for ⁠the first time since ⁠reunification in 1990.

An exit poll for public broadcaster ⁠ARD showed Die Linke at 24.5 percent, ⁠the incumbent conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz ‌at 20 percent, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ‌at ‌16 percent.

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In the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, however, the AfD is projected to win the elections, polling at 37 percent, just above the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is expected to secure 36 percent.

Merz said the results in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were a “disaster”.

Speaking at a crisis meeting of the CDU leadership, the German chancellor told reporters he promised to stay on, after recent speculation he may soon be ousted by his party.

“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” the 70-year-old said at the Berlin headquarters of his centre-right CDU. “The reforms have to come. I am taking on this responsibility because I want to move our country forward.”

Following the results, the AfD’s national co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, called on the German chanceller to resign.

Chrupalla told ZDF television that “the chancellor’s statement today really was more than feeble – he announced that he’d carry on as before, instead of finally drawing the consequences and resigning”.

Meanwhile, Elif Eralp, Die Linke’s lead candidate, who is the daughter of Turkish immigrants, celebrated her party’s triumph over the anti-immigration AfD.

“In our city, love and justice have triumphed over hatred,” she said.

About 2.5 million people were eligible to vote in the city-state of Berlin, Germany’s capital, and nearly 1.3 million in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday. Polling booths in both states – traditionally seen as left-leaning – opened at 8am local time (06:00 GMT) and closed at 6pm (16:00 GMT).

Pressure on Merz has been mounting after the far-right AfD delivered a significant 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.

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 SPD, raising doubts among fellow party members about whether he can continue to lead.

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the CDU was an onlooker to the main battle between the SPD’s popular state premier Manuela Schwesig and the AfD’s lead candidate, former radio presenter Leif-Erik Holm.

Reporting from Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane said that “when he [Merz] speaks of disaster, from his perspective that is what this result is”, as he outlined that Merz’s party has received its worst result in this state since any state election following the formation of Germany after World War II.

“But there is nuance to what he had to say,” Kane said. “His party got 20 percent in Berlin, and that is not disastrous from his perspective. Though the AfD is clearly the strongest party in the old East Germany, outside Berlin, they are not so in western Germany, and that is where the vast majority of the German population lives, and where elections matter the most.”

“As far as where Germany goes next,” Kane added, “Merz wants to stay on, but will his party let him?”

AfD’s previous victory

Regional elections would not usually draw much interest outside Germany, but the AfD’s success in Saxony-Anhalt, which it sees as the first step towards winning federal elections due in 2029, has sent shock waves through Europe.

“Saxony-Anhalt was certainly a revolution for the German party system,” Florian Hartleb, a professor of international relations at Modul University in Vienna and expert on far-right movements, told Al Jazeera.

Hartleb said the AfD had been “fundamentally excluded” from the power system, with the other political parties trying “everything” against it in recent years. “But it didn’t work out,” he said, citing voters’ dissatisfaction over migration, the economy and social inequality.

AfD’s main candidate for the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election, Leif-Erik Holm, attends an election campaign event in Schwerin, September 19, 2026 [Danny Gohlke/AFP]