Published: 12:18 AM, 22 September 2026
Far left wins Berlin state election, far-right AfD in Germany's northeast
Germany's far-left party Die Linke (the Left) has taken first place in a state election in Berlin, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the most votes in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Die Linke took 25.7 percent of the vote in Berlin, the state election authority said early on Monday, comfortably ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), which finished with just 18.8 percent of the vote.
The far-left party, however, will need allies to take control of the mayor's office in the German capital for the first time since reunification in 1990.
The AfD finished third in Berlin, with 16.3 percent, followed by the Greens on 14.3 percent. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) came in fifth with just 12.1 percent, their worst-ever result in a Berlin state election.
In the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD secured its second state victory in just two weeks, earning around 38.2 percent of the vote, according to the election commission.
The SPD came in second with 35.5 percent. Meanwhile, Merz's conservative party suffered its worst-ever showing in its 81-year history, according to preliminary results, with just 4.9 percent of the vote, just short of the 5 percent threshold required to win seats.
Merz said the results in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were a "disaster".
Speaking at a crisis meeting of the CDU leadership, the German chancellor told reporters he would stay on, after recent speculation that his party may soon oust him.
"What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience," the 70-year-old said at the Berlin headquarters of his centre-right CDU. "The reforms have to come. I am taking on this responsibility because I want to move our country forward."
AfD, Die Linke react
Following the results, the AfD's national co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, called on the German chancellor to resign.
Chrupalla told ZDF television that "the chancellor's statement today really was more than feeble - he announced that he'd carry on as before, instead of finally drawing the consequences and resigning".
Meanwhile, Elif Eralp, Die Linke's lead candidate and the daughter of Turkish immigrants, celebrated her party's triumph over the anti-immigration AfD.
"In our city, love and justice have triumphed over hatred," she said.
About 2.5 million people were eligible to vote in the city-state of Berlin, Germany's capital, and nearly 1.3 million in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday. Polling booths in both states - traditionally seen as left-leaning - opened at 8am local time (06:00 GMT) and closed at 6pm (16:00 GMT).
Pressure on Merz has been mounting after the far-right AfD delivered a significant defeat to his CDU party two weeks ago in the key state of Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD fell just short of an absolute majority, which would have allowed it to govern on its own.
After just 16 months in power, Merz's approval ratings have plunged to about 14 percent, the latest polls suggest, as he struggles to push through promised economic and social welfare reforms with his centre-left coalition partner, the SPD, raising doubts among fellow party members about whether he can continue to lead.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the CDU was an onlooker to the main battle between the SPD's popular state premier Manuela Schwesig and the AfD's lead candidate, former radio presenter Leif-Erik Holm.
Reporting from Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Al Jazeera's Dominic Kane said that "when he [Merz] speaks of disaster, from his perspective that is what this result is", as he outlined that Merz's party has received its worst result in this state since any state election following the formation of Germany after World War II.
"But there is nuance to what he had to say," Kane said. "His party got 20 percent in Berlin, and that is not disastrous from his perspective. Though the AfD is clearly the strongest party in the old East Germany, outside Berlin, they are not so in western Germany, and that is where the vast majority of the German population lives, and where elections matter the most."
"As far as where Germany goes next," Kane added, "Merz wants to stay on, but will his party let him?"
AfD's previous victory
Regional elections would not usually draw much interest outside Germany, but the AfD's success in Saxony-Anhalt, which it sees as the first step towards winning federal elections due in 2029, has sent shock waves through Europe.
"Saxony-Anhalt was certainly a revolution for the German party system," Florian Hartleb, a professor of international relations at Modul University in Vienna and expert on far-right movements, told Al Jazeera.
Hartleb said the AfD had been "fundamentally excluded" from the power system, with the other political parties trying "everything" against it in recent years. "But it didn't work out," he said, citing voters' dissatisfaction over migration, the economy and social inequality.
