AfD wins elections in Saxony-Anhalt with 44% of the vote and Merz faces CDU's biggest defeat in decades

The German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, participates in a press conference in Berlin, one day after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, this Monday (7). — Photo: REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

The resounding victory of the far right in the elections in Saxony-Anhalt reflects the erosion of traditional politics in Germany and a setback of catastrophic proportions for Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has a popularity rating of just 16%.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won 44% of the vote in the former communist state — more than double those obtained by Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

It is also interesting to note that support for the radical party doubled, in terms of number of votes, in relation to the last regional elections, in 2021. In other words, it indicates strong support for the anti-immigration, pro-Russia platform and contrary to the LGBTQIA+ movement and climate change policies.

Unlike other far-right parties in Europe, which moderated their speeches, the AfD increases radicalization. And it attracts voters, convinced that the political system alternating between the traditional CDU and SPD, is incapable of solving the problems that afflict them.

If he manages to form a government, the victorious AfD leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, must implement his campaign promises: deporting immigrants, banning rainbow flags in schools and suspending the construction of wind farms.

The party needs three more seats to obtain an absolute majority in the regional Parliament and bypass the cordon sanitaire that keeps it out of coalitions.

The entry of the left-wing and pro-Russian Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) into Parliament would facilitate the rise of the AfD, as the party leader declared that she was against the barrier to isolate the extremist party.

Siegmund insists he has a clear mandate to rule and will not renounce his principles.

It seems to rely on defections from other parties as an option to form a majority. In his victory speech, the charismatic 35-year-old former salesman predicted that the result will "shake the whole of Germany": "We achieved exactly what we wanted. We made history."

Ulrich Siegmund, main candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party, arrives for a press conference in Berlin, one day after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, this Monday (7). — Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen

On the other side, the defeated Merz consolidates himself as the most unpopular chancellor since the founding of the Federal Republic, pressured by the failure of his reforms and by the coalition with the Social Democrats, which has proven fruitless in responding to the rise of far-right nationalist sentiment in the country.

While promising profound reforms in the country, he said he was shocked by the result of the elections in Saxony-Anhalt, which he acknowledged was the CDU's biggest defeat in decades.

“We didn’t expect things to end like this,” admitted Merz. The AfD's rising performance in recent years, however, seems to contradict the chancellor's surprise.