Saxony-Anhalt Election: AfD Wins by Landslide
Saxony-Anhalt punishes the CDU and hands the AfD a landslide. But without an absolute majority, can the party, classified as confirmed right-wing extremist in the state, actually govern?
On September 7th, the far-right AfD party triumphed in the state election of Saxony-Anhalt, achieving a landslide victory, but fell short of securing an absolute majority. This marked the first instance since the end of World War II where a party identified as confirmed right-wing extremist came to power in a German state, albeit with outside support.
The CDU, led by State Premier Sven Schulze, finished second after experiencing significant losses. For the first time, the Left Party, the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the FDP all performed below their previous election levels. The Greens posted their most successful result ever in a Saxony-Anhalt state election, while the FDP did not meet the necessary threshold to enter parliament.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) managed to gain a seat in the Magdeburg state parliament for the first time since their inception. AfD vote shares nearly doubled, reaching 43.8 percent, compared to 20.8 percent in the previous election. The CDU's vote share plummeted to 17.2 percent, their worst performance in a Saxony-Anhalt state election.
The Left Party and the SPD saw slight decreases, while the Greens and the BSW saw increases. With the outgoing CDU-SPD-FDP coalition now dissolved, the AfD's campaign for a government alone proved unsuccessful. The AfD's candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, declared he would take office even with a narrow majority, marking a deviation from his initial pledge to govern only with a stable majority.
Written by urgent.news from The Berlin Spectator's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
