ASSESSMENTS

Changing Tides in German Politics

Mar 12, 2016 | 14:00 GMT

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Guido Wolf (L), top candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for the state elections in the southwestern German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, attend an election campaign event in Nuertingen, southwestern Germany, on March 8, 2016. Chancellor Angela Merkel's party risks a drubbing at key state elections on March 13, 2016 as voters punish the German leader for her liberal refugee policy, while the right-wing populist AfD eyes major gains as it scoops up the
As Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity flags, regional candidates from her Christian Democratic Union party, such as Guido Wolf, left, have tried to distance themselves from her lax immigration policies.

(THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP/Getty Images)

On March 13, Germany will hold regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Wurttemberg, testing not only the popularity of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling center-right party and her center-left allies, but also the performance of the emerging populist right. Against the backdrop of the European immigration crisis, the regional votes will kick off the race for Germany's 2017 general elections....

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