(L to R) Claudia Müller, parliamentary group leader of Bündnis90/Die Grünen, Manuela Schwesig, Minister-President and SPD state chairwoman and Hennis Herbst, state chairman of the Left Party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jens Büttner
Three German parties agreed Tuesday to form a centre left-led coalition government in a northeastern state, keeping the AfD out of power despite the far-right party having topped regional polls.
The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania poll was one of three regional elections in September in which Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling conservatives performed abysmally, fuelling speculation his own party may seek to oust him.
The anti-immigration, Russia-friendly AfD, which leads in nationwide opinion polls, came first with 38 percent of the vote in the state. Merz's CDU party scored its worst-ever election result and failed to enter parliament.
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But after several weeks of talks, the centre-left SPD, which came second, the Greens and far-left Die Linke announced they had struck a deal to form a government to lead the state, which used to be part of communist East Germany.
"The negotiations were tough, and mostly ran late into the night," State Premier Manuela Schwesig reportedly said, as she announced the agreement in state capital Schwerin.
READ ALSO: What happens next after AfD win in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania?
Germany's mainstream political parties have long maintained a so-called "firewall" policy that aims to keep the far right out of power, in a country still haunted by its Nazi past.
But the AfD hopes to soon form its first regional government, in Saxony-Anhalt, another part of the former communist east, after winning 44 percent of the vote there in September.
Despite the defeats in the regional polls, Merz has vowed not to quit and insisted he would keep his ruling coalition together for the sake of Germany's "democratic future".
His CDU governs in coalition with the SPD at the national level.
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