AfD wins state elections in Saxony-Anhalt with a record number, but misses out on an absolute majority

Magdeburg. The AfD with its top candidate Ulrich Siegmund won the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt by a large margin, but missed out on an absolute majority. The CDU with Prime Minister Sven Schulze comes in second place with heavy losses, as can be seen from the preliminary results published on the website of the state returning officer.

There was initially no information about the mandates in the state parliament. According to the latest projections, the AfD could be the first time since the end of the Second World War that a party classified as right-wing extremist could come to power in a federal state - but it would need supporters to do so.

It is unclear whether she will be able to convince individual members of other parliamentary groups to vote for Siegmund as Prime Minister. The other parties in the state parliament had ruled out a coalition with the AfD before the election.

According to the preliminary results, the Left is losing votes, the SPD remains in single digits. The Greens achieved their best result in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. The FDP fails at the five percent hurdle - state leader Sylvia Hüskens announced her resignation. The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) had to tremble for a long time, but is now entering the state parliament in Magdeburg for the first time.

According to preliminary results, the AfD can more than double its share of the vote to 43.8 percent (2021: 20.8). It is the best result that a party has achieved in state elections in the past ten years and a record for the AfD. The CDU plummeted to 17.2 percent (37.1) – its worst result in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt.

The Left loses slightly and gets 8.6 percent (11). The SPD can improve on a low level with 9.3 percent (8.4). The Greens climb to 8.9 percent (5.9). The FDP flies out of parliament with 2.6 percent (6.4). The BSW gets 5.3 percent.

The previously ruling coalition of CDU, SPD and FDP is now over, but Prime Minister Schulze and his cabinet will remain in office until a new Prime Minister is elected. Before the election, the AfD had set the goal of a sole government - but according to the interim results, it missed that. The other government options are complicated.

According to a federal party conference resolution, the CDU rejects a coalition or comparable forms of cooperation not only with the AfD, but also with the Left. This line is called the “firewall.” This would be a sticking point for a CDU-led minority government. In addition, the BSW has ruled out the election of CDU top candidate Schulze as Prime Minister.

AfD top candidate Siegmund said of his party's performance: "Of course it is a government mandate." “Of course” he would also govern with just one more vote, he emphasized, contrary to his announcement during the election campaign that he only wanted to govern with a stable majority.

At the same time, the 35-year-old said that he currently sees no partners for a coalition. But he doesn't know what will happen in the next few days. “I don’t know if there are individual MPs who say: ‘It’s over now, I’m not going to play a part in this anymore’.” A lot could still happen.

If it doesn't work out to form a government, Siegmund believes a new election is also an option. “In an emergency there would be new elections, then we would have 50 or 55 percent,” he said in the evening.

CDU top candidate Schulze – who has only been in office as prime minister since January – admitted his party's failure. “It’s a defeat for us,” said the 47-year-old. He left the possible consequences open in the evening. "I'm going to Berlin tomorrow, there's the federal executive committee, and tomorrow evening there's the state executive committee, and I'll make a procedural proposal to the CDU Saxony-Anhalt. But we'll also discuss that tomorrow in the state executive committee," he said.

In the evening, Schulze was confronted with demands from his own ranks to resign as state party leader. The CDU state parliament member Eva Feußner demanded this, as did the Junge Union Saxony-Anhalt.

The head of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU), sees his party facing difficult discussions about forming a government that excludes the AfD. “We will have to see what we can do to ensure a reasonably stable government for the country,” he said. “Now is not the time to duck away.” Frei once again clearly ruled out collaboration with the AfD.

BSW top candidate Thomas Schulze, however, was open to talks with the AfD. "We said we would talk to all parties. This includes the AfD," he told dpa. “We are not interested in the firewall and we will talk to all parties.”

The party's co-leader in the federal government, Amira Mohamed Ali, said: "We will do exactly what we announced before the election after the election. We will not elect Mr. Schulze or Mr. Siegmund."

FDP state leader Hüskens announced her resignation after her party failed to return to the state parliament. “I am the state chairwoman, I led the state parliament as the top candidate, so I also pay the consequences for that,” she told the dpa.

It is not yet possible to predict what consequences the state elections will have for the black-red coalition in the federal government with the fall of the CDU. Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz initially did not comment on the debacle for his party in the evening. In two weeks - on September 20th - two more state elections will follow: in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in the state of Berlin.