Far-right leader Alice Weidel has promised that “change is coming” after her Alternative for Germany (AfD) topped an opinion poll for the first time.
News of the party’s historic breakthrough to 25 per cent support, up four points on its February election result, came as the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian CSU ally began selling their coalition agreement with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) to sceptical party members.
CDU/CSU support has slid almost five points to 24 per cent, a development analysts attribute to a U-turn on using loans – rather than austerity and reforms – to finance major spending on infrastructure and defence.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, said he was “very satisfied” with reform measures in the coalition deal and, six weeks after topping the election poll, “you have to live with opinion polls”.
German opposition parties have castigated the CDU/CSU deal with the SPD, accusing those involved of in effect rearranging deckchairs on Germany’s Titanic economy.
“This coalition is ignoring the pressing issues of our time,” said Green co-leader Felix Banaschak, flagging a downgrade of climate policy. “This coalition agreement lacks concepts and courage ... there is no will to reform and no vision for this country.”
That echoed a series of posts on the social media platform X from Ms Weidel. She flagged a series of negative headlines on Tuesday, including downgraded economic forecasts, to accuse Mr Merz of being a risk to German prosperity.
“Our economy is in free-fall and is threatening to shrink in 2025 for the third year in succession,” she wrote. “Instead of energetic reform, Merz is leaving German firms out in the rain.”
The sudden surge in AfD support has caught many by surprise, including in the party itself. One unnamed MP told the Bild tabloid the plan in the new parliamentary term was to show humility and for MPs to dial down their often bawdy behaviour and language.
[ Christian Democratic Union nerves on edge amid Alternative for Germany poll surgeOpens in new window ]
After capturing large swathes of the working class vote, the AfD parliamentarian said “the tone in the chamber has to change” if the party was to attract more middle-class voters.
Of the 129 calls to order in the last Bundestag term, 85 were caused by AfD parliamentarians while another 13 originated with independent MPs previously part of the AfD.
Outgoing Green Bundestag deputy president Katrin Göring-Eckardt said that, since the arrival of the AfD in the Bundestag eight years ago, “abuse and insults, especially against women” had become part of everyday parliamentary life. That was something, she said, that had “absolutely nothing to do with political debate”.
Senior AfD officials appear unsure whether their poll surge will last, in particular given growing disagreement over US president Donald Trump’s trade tariffs – most noticeably among its co-leaders.
After an election campaign of careful consensus and co-ordinated messaging, Ms Weidel has warned that US tariffs are “damaging our economy”.
“Fear, vanity and thoughts of revenge must not be allowed to play a role – prudence and self-confidence are needed in our dealings with Washington,” she said.
Meanwhile her co-leader Tino Chrupalla said Mr Trump’s moves were justified to “protect” the US economy.
Speaking in advance of the US president’s tariff shift on Tuesday, Mr Chrupalla added: “He wants to force other countries to negotiate. He wants to improve the US trade balance and boost industry. That is understandable.”
Economic analysts suggested that economic uncertainty and internal party disagreements could yet dampen voter enthusiasm for the AfD. On the trade war, Germany’s IW think tank accused the AfD of “blindly” following the US president.
“Globalisation means great gains in prosperity, once it is framed fairly and based on rules, something Trump is destroying with his blind fervour,” said Dr Michael Hüther, IW president. “The AfD is clearly inclined to follow this march into the abyss.”
