Die Linke profited from the SPD crisis, but the AfD even more.
Photo: dpa/Fabian Sommer
»An increase of two percent for Die Linke is far from satisfying us. But it shows that we’re on the right track,” reacted state manager Stefan Wollenberg on Thursday. “We will take people’s protests to the streets and, together with democratic partners from civil society, fight for a way out of the crisis in solidarity.”
On Wednesday evening, the broadcaster RBB published its latest Brandenburg trend. The polling institute Infratest dimap had interviewed 1,165 eligible voters in Brandenburg between September 22nd and 26th. One of the results: If there were a state election on Sunday, Die Linke would get 9 percent of the votes. That is 2 percentage points more than previously in a Brandenburg trend published on February 27th. At that time, the effects of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24 and the resulting crisis could not be measured because the survey had been conducted before the war broke out.
At 9 percent, Die Linke is still below the already disastrous 10.7 percent it received in the 2019 state election. That explains the assessment of state manager Wollenberg that the party is not satisfied with that. But other results of the survey suggest that things could continue to improve while Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke’s SPD is on the decline.
The Social Democrats have lost 6 percentage points since February and are now 2.2 percentage points below their state election result from 2019. They are now at 24 percent and are only on par with the AfD, which for its part has gained 5 percentage points since February and already half a point percentage point better than in the state election.
Nothing has changed for the CDU since February. It now stays at 18 percent. In the state elections, she had received a disappointing 15.6 percent. At that time, the Free Voters managed to get into parliament with 5.0 percent in parliamentary group size. They have now remained at 4 percent for some time and would currently fail at the five percent hurdle.
With their 10.8 percent in the state election, the Greens had surpassed the Left Party for the first time in their history in Brandenburg and achieved a poll rating of 16 percent in May 2021, but then fell to 8 percent by September of that year. It was the ups and downs that can be observed so often among the Greens in an election year, because federal elections were coming up at the time. Brandenburg’s Greens are now back at 11 percent. The FDP, which is not represented in the state parliament, fell from 6 to 4 percent compared to February.
A year ago, 53 percent of Brandenburgers were satisfied with their red-black-green state government. Now only 39 percent are satisfied and 55 percent are dissatisfied. Linke state manager Wollenberg comments: “The fall of the state government in terms of satisfaction and the drastic loss of trust among Brandenburgers shows that the state government’s crisis management is catastrophic.” The government has no suitable answers to the concerns of many people. “Sedative pills will be handed out instead.”
But obviously they don’t work. 88 percent of those surveyed expect jobs to be lost because of high electricity and gas prices, and 46 percent fear that they will only be able to pay their energy bills with considerable difficulty in winter. Not surprisingly, those with a monthly net income of less than 1500 euros are more worried than those with more than 3500 euros. 61 percent of the former fear not being able to pay their energy bill, and 29 percent of the latter.
“We see the federal government as having a responsibility to take effective measures against further increases in energy prices in order to cushion the enormous social hardships in the coming autumn and winter,” said Green Party leader Petra Budke on Thursday. »Especially in the areas of health, care and local public transport, further relief must be initiated. A national rescue package must focus on support for the social infrastructure and on measures that support ecological and social transformation. The faster we become less dependent on fossil fuels, the faster we will overcome this crisis.«
In the opinion of Linke state manager Wollenberg, the government’s current policy is endangering citizens’ trust in the ability of politicians to act. That strengthens the AfD. “A change of course and real help for the people are urgently needed.”
