The AfD's top candidate Ulrich Siegmund is open to a coalition government. He wanted to "reach out to all possible forces if they wanted to bring about a fundamental political turnaround with us," said Siegmund on ARD. Before the election, he had announced that he would only become prime minister if his party won an absolute majority.
The AfD co-federal party leader Alice Weidel raised her party's claim to government in Saxony-Anhalt on ZDF. “This is a historic result and it is a very clear government mandate,” said Weidel. How the government will come about – “perhaps through toleration or through a coalition” – remains to be seen. She also predicted that the CDU would “never” win an election again.
The Thuringian AfD chairman Björn Höcke praised the “team performance” of the AfD regional association in Saxony-Anhalt. He also spoke of his party colleague as a “charismatic, warm-hearted, people-friendly top candidate.”
Sven Schulze admits defeat
In his speech, CDU top candidate and Prime Minister Sven Schulze congratulated the AfD on its election victory. “It’s a defeat for us too,” said Schulze. At the same time, he praised the high voter turnout. »We have a voter turnout that is probably between 75 and 80 percent. We've never had that before in a state election." This would have sent people a signal.
Chancellery Minister Nina Warken (CDU) spoke of a turning point for the CDU. "This is a result that affects us, especially as Christian Democrats, where we were founded to stand for humanity and with each other," she also said on ZDF. "And that's why it's a very, very difficult result that we have to accept on the one hand, but that we certainly won't accept."
Several CDU politicians ruled out a discussion about Friedrich Merz (CDU) and his role as CDU chairman and Federal Chancellor. “The Federal Chancellor has been elected for four years,” said the Union parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei.
Klüssendorf calls on the CDU to work with the left
The Social Democratic top candidate Armin Willingmann sees his party as “pretty stable”. SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf also expressed satisfaction with the Social Democrats' result. “Our result stands, we are making our contribution so that we can form a different majority,” said Klüssendorf on ZDF. He expects a “very, very difficult government” to be formed.
He called on the CDU to work with the Left Party. We fought together for a majority of the democratic parties, said Klüssendorf. "And if there is such a majority, then it would have to be formed together with everyone who is represented in this state parliament."
Green candidate sees hope against sole government
For the Greens, the numbers are “of course great, but also worrying,” said top candidate Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz. “Civil society has placed hope in Alliance 90/The Greens to prevent this AfD sole government.” It cannot currently be said whether this will succeed. "But I also want to say very clearly at this point: We will not disappoint this hope."
The left's top candidate Eva von Angern was disappointed with the AfD's strong result. “The state government was voted out of office today,” said von Angern. "It occurred to me that this is really a black day for Saxony-Anhalt." She promised her party's support to those who fight for women's rights, for strong unions and for queer people.
BSW holds out the prospect of selective cooperation with the AfD
BSW top candidate Claudia Wittig appeared open to selective cooperation with the AfD. She said on ARD that her party had already announced before the election that it would decide on the content of cooperation. There are definitely overlaps in certain projects. "If, as current projections and surveys show, 44 percent of voters voted for the AfD, then in my opinion it would be completely undemocratic not to allow them to participate in the government in any way," she said. However, Wittig left unanswered whether the BSW would elect Ulrich Siegmund as Prime Minister.
You can follow current developments regarding the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in our live blog.
This article will continue to be updated.
