- Title: Brandenburg Social Democrats cling on after bruising state election result
- Date: 1st September 2019
- Summary: POTSDAM, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** INCUMBENT BRANDENBURG STATE PREMIER DIETMAR WOIDKE OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS (SPD) SPEAKING TO SUPPORTERS AT ELECTION PARTY WOIDKE SPEAKING SEEN ON WOMAN'S MOBILE PHONE DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (German) INCUMBENT BRANDENBURG STATE PREMIER OF THE SPD, DIETMAR WOIDKE, (ASKED "DID YOU MAYBE PROFIT FROM A CHOICE BETWEEN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT AND NON-DEMOCRATIC PARTY) SAYING: "I think the fact that there was a polarisation during this election campaign played a role. That's clear. Right now, I am just happy that Brandenburg's face remains a friendly one." CAMERA VICE CHANCELLOR AND FINANCE MINISTER OLAF SCHOLZ OF THE SPD AT ELECTION PARTY SPD SUPPORTERS WATCHING TV COVERAGE SHOWING EXIT POLLS WERDER, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AFD SUPPORTERS WATCHING TV AT ELECTION PARTY (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD MEMBER OF GERMAN PARLIAMENT, ENRICO KOMNING, SAYING: "I think we need to open people's eyes even more and show them that the established parties don't act in Germany's interest but against it. We tried to make this clear in the election campaign, apparently not enough. But with our opposition work we will show that there is a better alternative." AFD SUPPORTERS WATCHING TV, AMONG THEM AFD SUPPORTER ERNST FRIEDRICH SIEBERT (SOUNDBITE) (German) AFD SUPPORTER, ERNST FRIEDRICH SIEBERT, SAYING: "There is a sentence which I personally support: we will enter into a coalition government if we supply the state prime minister. Otherwise we will end up like the SPD, on the sidelines of Mrs. Merkel." AFD SUPPORTERS IN DISCUSSION
- Embargoed: 15th September 2019 19:31
- Keywords: Germany election Brandenburg Saxony AfD Angela Merkel coalition
- Location: POTSDAM & WERDER, GERMANY
- City: POTSDAM & WERDER, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUTRFIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Germany's Social Democrats hung onto their majority by a thread on Sunday as exit polls for the Brandenburg state elections saw the SPD drop 5,8 percent to 26,1 percent just ahead of the AfD in second place with 23,7 percent.
The SPD's incumbent Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke said he was happy that for now at least the face of Germany's eastern state remained a friendly one.
The results will still be a blow to the governing party which has run the state which surrounds Berlin since German reunification in 1990.
A jubilant AfD parliamentarian said the results showed that voters were finally waking up to the fact that the 'established parties don't act in Germany's interest but against it."
The AfD harnessed voter anger over refugees and the planned closure of coal mines in the formerly communist eastern states, casting themselves as the heirs of the demonstrators who brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall three decades ago.
The setbacks for the ruling parties were not as major as feared but could still hasten the break-up of the national coalition led by Merkel, who has loomed large on the European stage since 2005 and whose early departure would further unsettle a European Union already unnerved by Brexit.
(Production: Leon Malherbe, Martin Schlicht, Michele Sani, Tanya Wood) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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