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He has also suggested that Germany’s integration commissioner Aydan Ozoguz, who has Turkish roots, should be “disposed of in Anatolia”.
Forsa polling institute chief Manfred Guellner predicted that the AfD will soon spark its own decline through its chronic infighting, and added that its rise was “unfortunate but no catastrophe because Germany as a whole is a solid democracy”.
– Lacklustre campaign –
Aside from the hard-right populist noise, the past two months of campaigning by the major parties have been widely criticised as lacklustre and uninspired, with few hot-button issues dividing the main contenders.
For the past four years, Merkel’s CDU has ruled Europe’s top economy with the Social Democrats as its junior partner, a time during which both parties have broadly agreed on major policies, from foreign policy to migration.
In a last-ditch bid to stir voters, the SPD’s Gabriel accused Merkel of caving in to the demands of US President Donald Trump by pledging to raise defence spending to two percent of GDP.
“Germany is the voice of peace and disarmament and not the European offshoot of Trumpian military armaments policy,” he said.
Governing in Merkel’s shadow has cost the SPD voter support, and polls give it 21-22 percent compared to 34-36 percent for Merkel’s conservative bloc which also includes the Bavarian CSU.
Looking at the surveys, many rank-and file SPD members wonder whether the traditional working class party needs a stint in opposition to rekindle its fighting spirit.
This would leave the presumed winner Merkel in need of new coalition partners — possibly the liberal and pro-business Free Democrats, who are hoping for a comeback after crashing out of parliament four years ago.
Another potential partner is the ecologist and left-leaning Greens party, which however starkly differs with the FDP on issues from climate and green energy to migration policy.
