Germans began voting Sunday in two state elections where far-right and far-left gains could send new shock waves to Berlin and rock the government of embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Merz, 70, has scheduled a crisis meeting of his centre-right CDU party leadership to discuss the first results as they come in from the regional polls in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The chancellor, in power for 16 months, has also cleared his calendar for the following days and skipped a trip to the UN General Assembly to deal with potential aftershocks from the votes.
The far-right, pro-Trump and Moscow-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) dealt a stunning defeat to his CDU two weeks ago in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, fuelling speculation that internal party support for Merz is wobbling.
The election debacle came as Merz’s approval ratings have nose-dived and he has struggled to push through promised economic and social welfare reforms with his centre-left coalition partners the SPD.
The AfD will make fresh gains Sunday, polls suggest, although it is unlikely to come within reach of power in either state — unlike in Saxony-Anhalt where it fell just a few seats short of an absolute majority.
Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) with voting set to last until 6:00 pm.
