Bavaria’s governing Christian Social Union (CSU) party held their last election rally at the Loewenbraeu restaurant in Munich on Friday night in front of 2,000 CSU supporters.
The Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz attended the event as a special guest. In his speech, he stressed that Bavaria, Germany, Austria and the European Union need to worry about the strengthening of fringe political groups and counselled voters that a strong centrist party is the best answer.
On that theme, Bavarian Minister President Markus Soeder (CSU) said events in Chemnitz have shown the true face of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, who may pick up seats in the forthcoming election. “This group let the mask fall, and has shown that they don’t want protest but have shown a specific plan and strategy,” he told attendees.
Bavarians will go to the polls on Sunday and the CSU is predicted to lose the absolute majority it has maintained for 51 out of the past 56 years. The latest opinion polling predicts that the CSU will only receive roughly 35 per cent of the vote, down from 47 per cent at the last election in 2013.