POTSDAM, Germany — The Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz won an election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg on Sunday, acquiring a narrow edge over a growing reactionary celebration, according to the vote count. The vote took location 3 weeks after the far right made gains in 2 other states in eastern Germany.
According to last results released Sunday night by the state electoral administration, the Social Democrats won 30.9% of the votes in the election to the parliament of Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Berlin. The reactionary Alternative for Germany was a close 2nd with 29.2%.
A brand-new leftist motion, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW, came in 3rd with 13.5% while the center-right Christian Democrats took 12.1%
The first-place proving for the Social Democrats brought a reprieve to the beleaguered Scholz, whose three-party governing union has fared badly in elections so far this year.
The Social Democrats haveactually governed Brandenburg constantly giventhat German reunification in 1990, and a loss there would haveactually been a significant obstacle for Scholz, who has his constituency in the state capital, Potsdam.
Scholz has stated he would like to be the celebration’s prospect for chancellor in next fall’s federal election, and Sunday’s vote was likewise being seen for what it may signal about his political future.
“It’s terrific that we won,” Scholz stated from New York, where he was goingto a conference at the United Nations, according to the German dpa news firm.
But the success of the Social Democrats in Brandenburg — after beats somewhereelse — was mostly credited not to Scholz, however to the efforts of the popular state guv, Dietma