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Siegmund doesn't necessarily want to govern even with an absolute majority

Sep 5, 2026, 10:43am Reading time: 1 min.

Ulrich Siegmund on Friday during the election campaign in MagdeburgReuters

AfD top candidate: Stable government with a narrow majority not necessarily possible +++ Suspected power grid saboteur on the run +++ 33 disciplinary proceedings because of missing service weapons at the Federal Police and BKA +++ all developments in the live blog

The AfD doesn't necessarily want to govern - even with an absolute majority

AfD leading candidate Ulrich Siegmund had announced several times that he would only govern in Saxony-Anhalt with an absolute majority - now he is leaving an election for Prime Minister open even with an absolute majority and emphasizes that he needs a “stable majority”. When asked whether he would aim for the Prime Minister's Office with a one-vote majority in the state parliament, Siegmund told the "Bild" newspaper (Saturday): "We will decide that on Monday. Let's see how it turns out."

Siegmund emphasized that he was interested in a “stable majority” in the state parliament. "What do I do if one or two or three MPs are in the hospital? Should I then carry them on a stretcher into the state parliament to vote?" Siegmund told the "Bild" newspaper. It should not be the case that the country’s “progress is paralyzed” “because one or two MPs are absent due to health reasons,” added the AfD top candidate.

Lots going on on election weekend

Several thousand people are expected to take part in demonstrations and rallies in Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday and Sunday. According to police information, a dozen events have been registered in the state capital Magdeburg and several pro-democracy rallies in Halle (Saale). The largest will take place this afternoon on Magdeburg Cathedral Square: an alliance of trade unions and civil society is expecting around 8,000 participants. In addition, the AfD, which is leading in the polls, is celebrating its official election campaign.

Woidke: SPD needs a clear edge

Brandenburg's SPD Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke advises his party to take a clear stance in view of weak nationwide poll numbers. “The party leadership must take the dissatisfaction in the SPD and the weak poll numbers seriously,” said Woidke to the German Press Agency. “Many people currently no longer recognize what the SPD stands for and what concrete difference social democratic politics makes in their lives.” In the most recent survey by Infratest dimap, the SPD got 13 percent. She has governed nationwide with the Union since 2025.

"In terms of content, the SPD doesn't have to completely reinvent itself. But it has to say what it stands for more clearly, concretely and credibly," said Woidke. “Our strength is bringing together social justice and economic strength.”

In view of the discussion about party leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, the head of government warned that the debate should not be “shortened to individual people”. There are calls among the SPD base to re-elect the party leadership after the state elections in the fall.

From the Brandenburg head of government's point of view, the SPD should put “100 percent focus on the hard-working middle”. “Good wages, secure jobs and strong collective bargaining are just as important as a reliable pension, affordable energy and affordable housing,” said Woidke, who is also the SPD state chairman.

He advised the party to reflect more on itself. "The SPD must not just react to other people's issues. It needs its own priorities, understandable language and visible results," said Woidke.

This Sunday, a new state parliament will be elected in Saxony-Anhalt, and on September 20th there will be state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the election of the House of Representatives in Berlin. Before the election in Saxony-Anhalt, the SPD Prime Minister was confident that the AfD would not get an absolute majority there.

“I am sure that the people of Saxony-Anhalt will show at the polling stations that they want security and stability and not division,” said Woidke. “What the AfD is planning in its program harms the regional economy and harms people.” The AfD is classified as definitely right-wing extremist in Saxony-Anhalt as in Brandenburg. She is aiming for a sole government in Saxony-Anhalt.

“Every third euro on credit”: Union parliamentary group vice-president calls for austerity measures ahead of budget consultations

Ahead of the upcoming budget discussions in the Bundestag, deputy Union parliamentary group leader Mathias Middelberg (CDU) warned against debts and called for strict austerity measures for the coming years, which does not stop at climate measures. "We live beyond our means. Every third euro we spend is on credit," Middelberg told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Saturday). “We have to save much more strictly,” he demanded.

For 2027, the budget plans to spend 640 billion euros, including special funds. Of this, more than 200 billion euros alone are to be financed through new loans.

“Such a high proportion of debt is extremely dangerous in the long term,” warned Middelberg. "We could lose our first-class credit rating. That would increase interest rates and generally drive up prices in the long term - to the detriment of all consumers." Therefore, the savings efforts “must now be massively intensified,” said Middelberg.

Specifically, he suggests cutting subsidies, for example for climate protection. "Programs labeled 'climate' should not be taboo either. Some of these measures have no verifiable efficiency. Excessive funding for heat pumps or electric buses, for example, simply drives up prices and can even make necessary changes more expensive," he emphasized.

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) will present his draft for the 2027 federal budget to the Bundestag on Tuesday. It will then be discussed by Parliament, although changes could be made.

33 disciplinary proceedings regarding missing service weapons at the Federal Police and BKA

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there have been dozens of disciplinary proceedings in federal police authorities over the past five years because of missing service weapons - the ministry did not disclose the number of weapons that went missing. According to the Interior Ministry's response to a small question from the Greens' parliamentary group, which was submitted to the Germany editorial network (Saturday), there were a total of 33 disciplinary proceedings during the period. 30 of these were attributable to the Federal Police and three to the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The ministry did not publicly disclose how many service weapons disappeared and where, citing “reasons of state welfare.” The Interior Ministry explained that the information on the numbers, the regional allocation and the specific reasons for the loss could allow conclusions to be drawn about the material operational readiness and logistics of the security authorities and could endanger the security authorities' ability to fulfill their tasks.

Major police operation with helicopter at power plant

After several sabotage attacks on the power grid in North Rhine-Westphalia, there was a major police operation at a power plant in Hamm. As a dpa reporter reported, numerous police cars came to the location on a country road near a forest on Friday evening. It was also used on helicopters. The “Hellweger Anzeiger” had previously reported.

A police spokesman said it was a former power plant. It has been out of service for a long time.

Trump on drone discovery: Putin is not planning any attacks on NATO

After the suspected Russian attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, US President Donald Trump still sees no danger of a Russian attack on NATO. "We talk to each other, I know him very well. Putin is not planning an attack on NATO territory," said Trump when asked whether the discovery of an explosive drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport constituted such an attack. The US President did not provide any further information.

Trump had already made similar comments at the end of August after CIA chief John Ratcliffe made a surprise visit to Moscow. The Wall Street Journal and Politico magazine previously reported that Ratcliffe had warned the Kremlin against attacking NATO allies. At this point, however, the federal government had not yet officially blamed Russia for the attempted attack.

The drone, which was prepared with explosives and a detonation mechanism, was discovered in the security area of ​​Leipzig/Halle Airport between Ukrainian cargo planes at the beginning of August.

Police discover suspected saboteur's vehicle - suspect still on the run

In a forest in Niederzier in the Düren district of North Rhine-Westphalia, the police found the converted truck of the suspected saboteur, who is said to be behind several attacks on the power supply. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) announced this at a joint press conference with Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) late on Friday afternoon in Düsseldorf. However, the car was abandoned and the suspect is still on the run. The site is near the long-contested Hambach open-cast lignite mine.

Reul was convinced that it was only a matter of time before the suspect was found. Now the man is probably on foot and won't get far, said Reul. The police said they were “working at full speed and using large amounts of cutlery”.

The police also found explosives in the 48-year-old suspect's apartment in Gevelsberg, explained Reul. There is no further evidence that the man is particularly dangerous. The letter of confession is authentic. According to Federal Interior Minister Dobrindt, it is most likely a lone perpetrator and “climate terrorism”.

AfD politicians call for election observation – together with the right-wing extremist association “One Percent”

Before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, more and more AfD politicians called on their voters to observe the election. Top candidate Ulrich Siegmund said in a social media video that they wanted to “take a close look at every polling station” and needed election observers for this. He also presented an interactive map on which his followers can see which polling stations are already being watched by AfD sympathizers and which are not - "so that we don't leave any polling station unoccupied." The map was created by the “One Percent” association, which has been considered right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2023 and is part of the circle of the new right-wing journalist Götz Kubitschek. Siegmund refers to the members of the club as “colleagues” in the video. People have already registered as observers for more than 520 polling stations in Saxony-Anhalt via the association's website.

On Thursday, the federal chairmen of the AfD Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla also called for people to volunteer as election observers. In a flyer created for this purpose, the party quotes the federal electoral regulations several times, which, however, apply to federal elections and not to state elections. “One percent” also quotes the federal electoral regulations.

In Saxony-Anhalt, the state election regulations apply to state elections, which states: “During the voting process and the determination and determination of the election results, everyone has access to the voting room, as long as this is possible without disrupting election business.”

Saxony-Anhalt's left-wing top candidate: There will be no right-wing extremist government

At the end of her party's election campaign, Saxony-Anhalt's left-wing top candidate Eva von Angern emphasized a determined fight against the right. During the election campaign, the predominant theme among people was concern about a right-wing extremist government. “This will not exist in Saxony-Anhalt – not after September 6th and not later,” said von Angern in Magdeburg. “We won’t let right-wing extremists take our home away from us,” said the forty-nine-year-old.

The co-chair of the federal party Ines Schwerdtner criticized Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), for example for the planned changes to pensions. According to the Left Party leader, Merz has no idea how people in East Germany are doing. People's anger is justified, but their anger should not be left to the right. “Because it is the AfD that is actually making politics against working people,” said Schwerdtner.

Heidi Reichinnek, left-wing parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, criticized the media reporting during the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. “It really pisses me off to see all these capital city journalists who are constantly producing one negative headline after the next,” said Reichinnek.

In the course of the state elections on September 6th, the Left ran an election campaign with a focus on social justice, the fight against right-wing extremism and concrete everyday help. For example, it calls for measures to combat child poverty, free education from daycare to university, and a stronger state in health care. In surveys, the Left was recently the third strongest force in Saxony-Anhalt with 12 to 14 percent.

Greens demand speed limit and 49 euro ticket

Because of the recent hot summer, the Greens are demanding a “crisis plan” from the federal government to combat the “climate emergency”. The catalog of measures that the Bundestag parliamentary group decided on at a closed meeting in Berlin includes, among other things, a speed limit on motorways and a Germany ticket at the previous price of 49 euros per month. In addition to acute crisis management, there is a need for a climate policy “that addresses the causes of the escalating climate crisis by rapidly reducing E