AfD Leads Polls Ahead of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Election

The far-right AfD party is poised for another electoral victory in the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, following its success in Saxony-Anhalt, with polls showing it leading ahead of the September 20 state election. The AfD is projected to win 35% of the vote, ahead of the ruling SPD at 32%, while the CDU trails at just 8%. This surge has intensified an internal crisis within the CDU, with some regional leaders calling for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's removal and others advocating local cooperation with the AfD, which the central leadership firmly rejects. The political dispute has spilled into the Bundestag, where Merz accused the AfD of being a "destructive force" aligned with Russia, while AfD co-leader Alice Weidel labeled the government's budget a "total failure" and accused it of fueling the war in Ukraine.