Producer: February 2017: In Chancellor Angela Merkel’s (CDU) electoral district of Vorpommern / Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, an area with a strong right wing tradition, the AfD achieved top ratings in the last state election. The right wing populist party surpassed the CDU with more than 20% of the electorate votes. With the success of right-wing nationalists in the USA and Europe, Leif-Erik Holm, direct candidate of the AfD, hopes to gain an edge over Angela Merkel in the upcoming general elections in September 2017. Report for TRT World News with correspondent Zeina Awad.