Home · Business · Sep 6 archive
German Far-Right Party Set for Strong Win in Regional Election, Uncertain of Governing
Confirmed
In Short: The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to win more than 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, a historic outcome for a far-right party in Germany.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is set to win more than 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, a regional election that has sent shockwaves through Germany's political landscape. The party, which has been described as a 'party for the working people,' has dominated the campaign and is emerging as the dominant force in the result.
The charismatic leader of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, hailed the result as 'sensational' and said they wanted to start governing as soon as possible. However, the party's path to governing remains uncertain, as they will not know if they have enough seats to form a government until they see which of the smaller parties get into the state parliament.
The incumbent governor, Sven Schulze from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has refused to work with the far-right party, stating that his own CDU is '100%' behind him. The CDU, currently leading the state, is set for a disastrous result, with projections showing them polling 18.5%.
The Alternative for Germany's lead in the election is a blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose center-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years. The party's projected result is a significant challenge to Merz's leadership, especially given that 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.
What's confirmed
- The party's “hand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward,” she said.
- “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.
- That was two years ago in neighboring Thuringia, where a CDU governor took power with a minority government, but against a regional AfD that was well short of a majority.
- A first state government would be the biggest prize in the anti-migration party's 13-year history, at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country's sluggish economy moving.
- Unlike other countries in Europe, modern Germany hasn't yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government.
- Its regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt is one of several classified as Its regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt is one of several classified as a proven right-wing extremist group by the domestic intelligence agency, which points to members' denigration of migrants from Muslim countries among other things.
- The party talks of "remigration," a politically charged term for the deportation of immigrants.
What's still developing
- No far-right party has won control of a state in Germany since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture.
- A crowd of supporters at the AfD election night party HQ erupted in cheers as the projections came up on the screen.
- A short while later, people burst into singing Germany's national anthem.
- “If there were to be an absolute majority for a right-wing populist party next Monday, then international investors will think three times about whether they still invest in Saxony-Anhalt,” he said.
- Siegmund said he will only seek election as governor if the AfD wins an absolute majority, arguing that it needs to break a pattern of parties breaking their pre-election promises.
- The Left Party was seen finishing third with about 9%.
- That may hinge on whether one populist left-wing party in particular, BSW, gets over the required threshold of 5%.
- The Left Party and the center-left Social Democrats and Greens were seen taking around 9% each.