German anti-Islam PEGIDA makes surprise gains in first local polls

Frankfurt (AFP) - Germany's anti-Islam PEGIDA movement took nearly 10 percent of the vote in mayoral elections in its eastern stronghold of Dresden Sunday, a better-than-expected result for a group whose weekly demonstrations have steadily dwindled.

In what was PEGIDA's first appearance at the ballot box, candidate Tatjana Festerling came fourth in the city's polls, sparked after the conservative mayor resigned for health reasons, with 9.6 percent of the vote.

The only opinion poll published ahead of the election, by the Technical University of Dresden, had predicted she would secure between just one and two percent of votes.

The surprisingly strong showing is likely to be hailed as a success by PEGIDA, which stands for "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident" and at its height brought up to 25,000 people onto the streets of Dresden, although later rallies attracted smaller crowds.

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