Alternative for Germany (AfD) Wins Saxony-Anhalt State Election

BERLIN, September 7. /TASS/. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a decisive victory in the election to the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag (state parliament), receiving 43.8% of the vote, according to preliminary official results released by the regional electoral commission.

TASS has compiled the key facts about the results.

Results

- The Alternative for Germany won the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag (state parliament) election with 43.8% of the vote, according to preliminary official results released by the regional electoral commission.

- This is the AfD's best-ever result in any German state, doubling its share of the vote from the previous state election five years ago.

- Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) came in second, losing more than half of its vote share compared with 2021.

- The Christian Democrats received just 17.2% of the vote, the CDU's worst-ever result in Saxony-Anhalt.

- Conservative candidates failed to win a single constituency, securing no direct mandates.

- The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) came in third with 9.3% of the vote.

- The Greens received 8.9% of the vote and the Left Party - 8.6%.

- The BSW (formerly the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice) also cleared the threshold to enter the state parliament with 5.3%.

About the election

- Around 1.7 mln people are eligible to vote in Saxony-Anhalt.

- Turnout reached a record for the state since German reunification, with around 77.8% of eligible voters casting ballots.

Situation in the country

- The election results have created an extremely difficult situation for forming a state government, as all parties except the BSW refuse to cooperate with the AfD, while the Christian Democrats also rule out cooperation with the Left Party.

- At the same time, the Alternative for Germany fell just short of securing an absolute majority.

- However, it could form a regional government for the first time in its history if it receives the BSW's support.

Parties' positions

- The Alternative for Germany achieved a historic result in the Saxony-Anhalt state election and received a mandate to form the regional government, party co-chair Alice Weidel said in an interview with ZDF TV channel.

- According to Weidel, the AfD is extending a hand to all political forces interested in strengthening Germany's position.

- AfD candidate for Saxony-Anhalt premier Ulrich Siegmund said the party had achieved what it set out to accomplish.

- BSW candidate Thomas Schulze told DPA that his party was open to talks with the Alternative for Germany on forming a regional government.

- He also noted that the BSW and AfD share common ground on some issues, including relations with Russia.

- Saxony-Anhalt Minister-President Sven Schulze, the CDU's candidate in the state election, conceded his party's defeat and congratulated his AfD rival Ulrich Siegmund.

Expert views

- Experts describe the CDU's defeat as a personal defeat for Chancellor Friedrich Merz and evidence of rejection of his government's policies, including its policy toward Russia.

- The Saxony-Anhalt state election results amount to a political earthquake for Germany, with dramatic developments ahead for the country, prominent German political scientist Alexander Rahr wrote on Telegram.

- He believes the AfD's success will further boost its popularity in other German states.