Far-right AfD eyes its first victory in Germany

The growing far-right movement in Germany is expected to gain a significant regional victory. 

On Sunday, the AfD party - known for its strong opposition to immigration and Islam, is forecast to win the mayoral election in a small town in the east. 

Mainstream parties have thrown their support behind the centre-right contender from Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, Octavian Ursu meaning AfD candidate Sebastian Wippel is seen as unlikely to triumph.

But Wippel won the first round in late May with 36 percent of the vote, sending shockwaves through the country already bracing for a strong AfD showing in Goerlitz's Saxony state in a September election.

His closest competitor, 51-year-old Octavian Ursu of the CDU, drew 30 percent and will face Wippel in the run-off.

Yunus Paksoy reports.

A burly ex-policeman with close cropped hair and a passion fo r martial arts, Wippel has adopted the campaign motto: "I won't forget anyone, and certainly not our Goerlitzers!"

He is surfing a wave of support, particularly in the east, for the AfD, which has railed against Merkel's 2015 decision to allow in around 1.2 million asylum seekers.

The party is now represented in all 16 of Germany's regional parliaments and polling as the most popular party in both Saxony and Brandenburg state, which will both go to the polls on September 1, followed by Thuringia on October 27.

The battle for Goerlitz's city hall has taken on outsize impor tance as a bellwether for the three state elections, with the future of Merkel's fragile right-left coalition potentially hanging in the balance.

Wippel said he was not taking the petition against him very seriously, caling it a hollow gesture "by people who don't live in Goerlitz".