Governor of Brandenburg and Germany's Social Democratic Party's Dietmar Woidke (centre) arrives at the party's election event after first exit polls announced in Potsdam, Germany, September 22, 2024
GERMAN Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SDP) have gained a narrow victory over far-right party Alternative for Germany in Brandenburg’s election on Sunday.
The vote in the eastern German state took place three weeks after the far-right made gains in two other states in the region.
According to final results published Sunday evening by the state electoral administration, the SDP won 30.9 per cent of the votes in the election to the parliament of Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin.
Alternative for Germany was a close second with 29.2 per cent.
The new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), came in third with 13.5 per cent, while the centre-right Christian Democrats took 12.1 per cent.
The first-place showing for the SDP brought a reprieve to the beleaguered Mr Scholz, whose three-party governing coalition has fared poorly in elections so far this year.
“It’s great that we won,” Chancellor Scholz said from New York, where he was attending a meeting at the United Nations.
