AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt election with 43.8 percent - BSW at the five percent hurdle

There are moments in which the dialectic of emergence and decline develops its own dynamic. This past weekend was one of these: On Saturday evening, a German company put a rocket from mainland Europe into orbit for the first time. 24 hours later, the people of Saxony-Anhalt elected a party as the strongest force, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution lists as “certainly right-wing extremist”.

First of all, the election: The AfD achieved 43.8 percent, more than any other party in state elections in the past ten years. The CDU roughly halved and reached 17.2 percent. They are followed by the SPD, the Greens, the Left and the BSW in the state parliament. And the BSW could become a key factor. With exactly 5.3 percent, the party is right at the threshold and would receive five mandates.

Together, the AfD and BSW would have 44 seats and would mathematically have an absolute majority. BSW top candidate Claudia Wittig announced on election evening on ARD that she might vote with the AfD based on “content”. However, a coalition has so far been rejected.