CDU goes into opposition after election in Saxony-Anhalt and rejects SPD talks

After the defeat in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU is sticking to its decision: it will not take part in talks to form a government and will go into opposition.

Magdeburg. The Saxony-Anhalt CDU has rejected an invitation from the SPD to talk about forming a government after the state elections. “The CDU Saxony-Anhalt will not take part in this conversation,” said a CDU spokeswoman. The state executive board has decided to go into opposition. “The state association is sticking to this decision.”

This means that it is unlikely that a government will be formed in Saxony-Anhalt apart from the AfD. The CDU, Left, Greens and SPD together have 39 seats, the BSW is represented by 5 representatives. The AfD also has 39 MPs. For a majority in parliament, 42 votes are needed. In order to bring a government into office without the AfD, all other parties would have to come to an agreement.

The Social Democrats wanted to discuss this next Tuesday with the CDU, Greens, Left and BSW. It is our responsibility to “seriously explore the existing options for forming a stable and effective government,” said a letter from the SPD state leaders Juliane Kleemann and Andreas Schmidt to the other four parties.

So far, only the AfD and BSW have held joint discussions on the future of the country. They are currently exploring the extent to which collaboration on content is possible. However, the BSW rejects a coalition with the AfD. The discussions are about content that an AfD-led minority government would have to implement.

In the past, the BSW had generally spoken out in favor of a non-partisan Prime Minister and had shown itself open to changing majorities. The SPD also wanted to “discuss the proposed proposal to elect a non-partisan prime minister” in the conversation. It was initially unknown whether the event would take place in Magdeburg without the CDU.