Poll foresees close race for far-right AfD in German state elections

Five days before regional state elections in theGerman states of Brandenburg and Saxony, the far-right Alternativefor Germany (AfD) is set to go head-to-head with the country's twomain political parties.In Brandenburg, the eastern state that surrounds the German capital,the AfD and the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) are both polling at 21per cent, according to a poll published Tuesday by German daily Bildand conducted by the opinion research institute Insa.Both parties have made gains in the last two months.  In Saxony, the centre-right Christian Democrats are four percentagepoints ahead of the AfD. The poll has the CDU polling at 29 per cent,and the AfD at 25 per cent.When looking at the remaining political parties in the two easternstates, the CDU has gone down in popularity in Brandenburg, with 17per cent. The hard-left Die Linke (The Left) and Greens have 15 percent and 14 per cent respectively, according to the poll.This would mean that Brandenburg's current coalition between the SPDand Die Linke would not be able to form a new government.  In Saxony, the SPD is polling at an abysmal 8 per cent, behind DieLinke and the Greens, which have 15 and 11 per cent each.This would mean that Saxony's ruling coalition between the CDU andSPD would also no longer be able to form a government.