AfD Wins Saxony-Anhalt, Falls Short of First Far-Right State Government Since WWII

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won Saxony-Anhalt’s regional election with 43.8% of the vote, but fell three seats short of a majority, leaving its bid to form Germany’s first far-right state government since World War II uncertain.

AfD secured 39 of the 83 seats in the state legislature after more than doubling its vote share from five years ago. It had sought an absolute majority to govern alone and overcome the “firewall” maintained by mainstream parties that refuse to work with it. The result also dealt a major blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years but won just 17.2% and 15 seats.

According to Associated Press, AfD, which campaigns against migration and is friendly towards Russia, saw its candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, say the party had received a clear mandate to govern. The 35-year-old told public broadcaster ARD that “we have written history” and that voters had sent a signal that “things cannot carry on like this.” He said that “a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz.”

AfD falls short of majority needed to govern alone

AfD needed 42 seats for an outright majority in the 83-member parliament but finished with 39. Siegmund said the party would not engage in “games” such as forming a minority government.

That leaves its divided opponents facing the task of finding a stable governing arrangement without cooperating with AfD. A government led by AfD would be the biggest prize in the party’s 13-year history and would mark the first time since World War II that a far-right party has led a German state government.

The election comes amid widespread discontent with Germany’s national government, which has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country’s sluggish economy moving. Whether or not AfD ultimately governs Saxony-Anhalt, the result is a setback for Merz’s CDU.

Unlike other countries in Europe, modern Germany has not yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government.

AfD is the biggest opposition party in Germany’s national parliament and is strongest in the formerly communist and less prosperous east, where Saxony-Anhalt is located.

Mainstream parties reject cooperation with AfD

AfD’s regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt is one of several classified as a proven right-wing extremist group by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. The agency has cited members’ denigration of migrants from Muslim countries among other concerns.

The party talks of “remigration”, a politically charged term for the deportation of immigrants. Its leader in a neighbouring state appealed two convictions for knowingly using a Nazi slogan.

AfD vehemently rejects accusations of extremism and says they are politically motivated.

The CDU has maintained its refusal to cooperate with AfD despite its election performance. Franziska Hoppermann, the CDU’s national general secretary, rejected backing off that position.

“AfD is a right-wing extremist party. It wants to leave the euro; that would be economic downfall ... it works closely together with Russia, it wants a completely different social model,” she said. “We will not work with them.”

Any attempt by incumbent Sven Schulze to put together an alliance against AfD would be delicate because it would require at least some tacit support from the Left Party, a hard-left party with which the CDU refuses to form coalitions.

AfD previously won a state election in neighbouring Thuringia two years ago but did not end up governing there. A CDU governor subsequently took power with a minority government, while AfD was much further short of a majority.

CDU loses support as AfD doubles vote share

AfD won 43.8% of the vote in the state of about 2.1 million people west of Berlin, more than double its showing five years ago.

The CDU polled 17.2%, losing about half its support and winning 15 seats. The centre-left Social Democrats received 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%, with each winning eight seats.

The BSW party secured 5.3% and five seats. BSW has said it would not elect either Siegmund or incumbent Sven Schulze as governor, but it has criticised the “firewall” against AfD.

Turnout was 77.8%. AfD appeared to have won over many people who did not vote at all five years ago.

AfD’s national co-leader, Alice Weidel, described the result as “sensational”. She said the party’s “hand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward.” It may hope to attract defectors from other parties.

Schulze congratulated AfD on becoming the state’s strongest political force and said that “we as the CDU will also have to deal with this result,” without specifying how.

Siegmund sets out AfD priorities

According to Associated Press, Siegmund has listed among his top priorities “a deportation offensive” and dropping incentives for people to come to Germany and “exploit our social system.”

He also wants to initiate a long process to withdraw Saxony-Anhalt from the regional public broadcaster, citing concerns about “disinformation”.

AfD in Saxony-Anhalt wants to allow home schooling, which is currently not permitted in Germany. It also pledges to ban schools from officially raising the rainbow flag, which it says “stands for the devaluation of the family,” and ensure they fly the national flag.

The party opposes taxpayers’ money being “given away” to Ukraine and says it would push to lift sanctions against Russia. However, lifting sanctions is not a matter that state governments can decide.

Limited state powers but wider political significance

Germany’s 16 states have extensive powers, including overseeing security matters and running the education system.

The state governments also sit in the Bundesrat, Germany’s upper house of parliament, which has to approve some government legislation. Saxony-Anhalt, one of Germany’s smaller states, controls four of the chamber’s 69 votes.

Associated Press reported that Saxony-Anhalt has limited influence in the Bundesrat, but the election result carries wider political significance. AfD has emerged as the state’s strongest political force while remaining short of the majority needed to govern alone. The immediate question is whether Schulze and the other parties can form a stable government while maintaining the political firewall against AfD.