Both the mainstream conservatives and social democrats are seeing record low ratings in Bavaria ahead of the general election in the rich German state on October 14, 2018.

The conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, has seen its rating drop to a record low of 33%, according to two recent polls, cited by DW.

A new Insa poll for the Bild newspaper published on Tuesday as well as a last week’s poll published by public broadcaster ARD both gave 33% popularity to the CSU, which has been in power in Bavaria since 1966 (2008 – 2013 is the only term in which it ruled the state in a coalition, with the liberal FDP).

The situation in Bavaria, however, appears to be desperate for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which is presently part of Merkel’s ruling coalition led by the CDU – CSU alliance.

The Insa poll shows SPD’s rating at only 10%, ranking the party fifth, while the ARD poll placed its support at 11%, tied for the third spot with the Free Voters.

According to the ARD poll, the second most popular party in Bavaria ahead of the election in the crucial state are the Greens at 18%.

The rating of the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is estimated at 10%.

The poll projections indicate that the right and the left would be unable to form a “grand coalition”-type Cabinet in Bavaria after the upcoming vote.

SPD leader Andrea Nahles vowed to campaign tirelessly in the last week before the election regardless of the disheartening rating of the leftists.

“We stand united, we fight together, and we will do that the whole week,” she said earlier this week in Munich.

“Of course we would’ve liked better polls, but we’re fighting because we believe that a lot of people are still undecided and winnable,” the German Socialist leader argued, vowing unwavering support for the lead SPD candidate in Bavaria, Natascha Kohnen.

Nahles’s solidarity with Kohnen has not been affected by the latter’s public criticism of the former last month when the Merkel-led coalition stuck a deal on removing the controversial head of Germany’s domestic intelligence, Hans-Georg Maassen, by shifting him to a position in the Interior Ministry.

Maassen was eventually welcomed as an aide to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer who is also the head of Bavaria’s conservatives, the CSU.

“The SPD shouldn’t sacrifice this federal government because Horst Seehofer wants to employ a civil servant who we consider unsuitable,” Nahles wrote back then, a message condemned by Kohnen.

(Banner image: Flickr)