Chinanews.net, February 24th. According to foreign media reports, on the 23rd, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) led by German Chancellor Merkel encountered the "worst result" ever in the election in Hamburg. This result is regarded as an "aftershock" brought to German politics by an election in Thuringia.
According to reports, preliminary results show that the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party ranked first and second with 39.1% and 24.1% of the votes, respectively, and the CDU dropped to third with 11% of the votes.
Preliminary results show that the German Selection Party (AfD) won 5.3% of the votes, slightly higher than the 5% threshold required to enter the state legislature. Currently, the party is represented in Germany's 16 state parliaments, and in some district polls, the party has double-digit approval ratings.
CDU Secretary-General Paul Ziemiak said it was a "painful day" and acknowledged that Karenbauer's announcement to resign following the scandal in Thuringia caused damage to the party.
Recently, the CDU has fallen into chaos over an election in Thuringia. At that time, several CDU state lawmakers and the far-right German Select Party members stood on the same front, pulling a far-left governor out of office. This approach breaks the political taboo of mainstream German parties not cooperating with the German Select Party. Merkel described the matter as "unforgivable."
The impact of this incident on German politics soon spread to the capital, Berlin. On February 10, Kramp Karenbauer, the chairman of the Democratic Party ’s ruling party, the CDU, announced that he would step down as party chairman and abandon his party ’s candidate for prime minister in the next election.
According to German political scholar Romer's analysis, the resignation of Carr's means that Merkel's attempt to orderly arrange the transition process after his retirement has failed, and it also shows that there is a serious division within the CDU. "Her successor will face quite a difficult task."