Far-right AfD overtakes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party in latest poll

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - The far-right AfD would place third ahead of incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) party if federal elections were held in Germany next Sunday, according to a poll Friday by public broadcaster ARD.

The strongest party would be the conservative CDU led by Friedrich Merz.

The CDU was able to maintain its position from the previous week with 29%. The AfD again improved and would reach 19% (+1%), the highest ever determined by ARD for the party.

The SPD would be pushed into third place by the AfD and would receive just 17% (-1%) of the vote. The Greens would remain steady at 15%.

After a period of relative positivity, the FDP party’s numbers are tanking again, down to 6% (-1%). For the smallest opposition party in the Bundestag, the Left Party, only 4% of those surveyed would continue to vote for it.

It would mean the Left Party would miss out on entry into the Bundestag, as it needs at least 5% to gain entry.

A coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP governs under Scholz.

According to the ARD poll, 52% of voters would like other parties to join forces to prevent AfD candidates from running in runoff elections for mayoral or district council offices.

A total of 35% would find such action wrong. Thirteen percent did not want to comment on that question. In eastern Germany, 40% are critical of the other parties joining forces against the AfD. Only 47% feel it is the right thing to do.