Germany's governing conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) have assembled a broad team of professionals to advise them in a regional election campaign, as the party seeks to fend off a growing challenge by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Voters in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are due to elect a new state government on September 20, and a recent poll puts the anti-immigrant AfD far ahead at 36%, followed by the Social Democrats at 29%.
With the election campaign kicking into high gear, the CDU, which has been polling at a meagre 9%, presented its new team of advisers on Tuesday.
It includes a headmaster, the founder of a start-up, as well as farmers and a nationally known police unionist, CDU lead candidate Daniel Peters said, stressing that the aim was to identify the main "issues" facing voters and focus on the "right solutions" in the campaign.
The AfD, which came second in last year's general election in what was the best result for a far-right party since World War II, has continued to amass support ahead of several state elections in September.
In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, the party is well within reach of winning an absolute majority on September 6, which could see it take control of a regional government for the first time.
The city state of Berlin is scheduled to vote alongside Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 20, with polls projecting the AfD to also do well there.
