State election in Saxony-Anhalt: AfD election campaign conclusion and political tensions

In Magdeburg, the AfD begins its last “family festival” – but initially the counter-protest is louder

The AfD is starting its election campaign in Magdeburg with a double event: On Friday and Saturday, the right-wing extremist regional association is inviting people, first with party leader Tino Chrupalla, and on Saturday with co-leader Alice Weidel.

On site, however, left-wing activists, including those from the “Center for Political Beauty,” are initially louder. There are around three dozen demonstrators there. They tried to disrupt the AfD's “family festival” event with loud music.

One of the demonstrators is Hannah. She turns 18 on Saturday and will then be allowed to vote for the first time. Many of her friends don't yet. "I'm worried about Saxony-Anhalt and I'm really happy that I can vote," she tells SPIEGEL. There are many AfD fans in her environment, the conversations are difficult and many fronts have hardened. She was able to convince some people to vote tactically.

Hannah is concerned about the quality of life in the country, regardless of whether the AfD gets its own majority. "It will be harder for queer people, for anyone who doesn't consider the AfD to be part of it." It is the second demo in which she is taking part. The commitment feels good, but she is also afraid. Right-wing YouTubers and right-wingers wearing “Siegmund” shirts have already tried to disrupt the protest and mobbed them. “For me, moving away is a serious consideration if the AfD gets even more power,” says Hannah.

Great interest from abroad in the election in Saxony-Anhalt

The state elections in Saxony-Anhalt are also generating great interest abroad. In addition to journalists from German media, numerous foreign media professionals will also be on site in Magdeburg on election day.

According to the state parliament's press office, a total of around 800 people are currently accredited for reporting on election evening, 500 of whom are expected on site at the Magdeburg trade fair. Among them are around 70 foreign media representatives.

According to the state parliament administration, they report for media from 14 different countries, including European neighbors such as France, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland. But journalists from the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are also on site.

“Then Siegmund has a mandate to form a government,” says the CDU

In the Saxony-Anhalt CDU, Bundestag member Sepp Müller is pushing forward the debate about how to deal with the Left Party after the election. “If the survey results become election results, then Ulrich Siegmund has a mandate to form a government with the AfD,” Müller told the “Politico” portal.

Müller, one of the left's most energetic opponents within the Union, stabs his own party colleague Sven Schulze in the back in the last few meters of the election campaign. According to the polls, Schulze, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt since January, could only be re-elected with the help of the Left - and only if the right-wing extremists miss out on the absolute majority of seats in the state parliament. This is precisely the option the 47-year-old has kept open so far: he simply rejects coalitions with the left and repeatedly asserts that he will “not make himself dependent on anyone.”

Müller is now apparently trying to increase the pressure. “It is very clear to us that we want to organize the majority from the center,” he continued. Coalitions with the Left or AfD are excluded. "If that is not possible, then the task of forming a government lies with the strongest faction."

What exactly that means is unclear. The AfD strictly rejects participation in coalitions, and no other party wants to govern together with the right-wing extremists. Apart from Müller, only one better-known Christian Democrat from Saxony-Anhalt has so far made a similar statement: MP Alexander Räuscher, who will probably no longer be a member of the new state parliament. He was quoted in the “Tagesspiegel” as saying: “Siegmund must make his party capable of governing.”

The majority of East Germans believe that arms aid to Ukraine is excessive

This could also shape the election on Sunday: According to the ARD Deutschlandtrend, the majority of East Germans (54 percent) are of the opinion that German military aid to Ukraine goes too far. In West Germany this is 39 percent. Conversely, in the Infratest dimap survey, 59 percent of West Germans said that they felt threatened or very threatened by Russia. In East Germany this is 42 percent. 21 percent of those surveyed in the East see no threat at all.

Ulrich Siegmund repeatedly called for an end to aid to Ukraine during the election campaign. The AfD's election manifesto, which is called the government program, says: "Germany and especially Saxony-Anhalt have a great interest in good relations with Russia, both from an economic and cultural perspective. The current anti-Russian policy of the old parties is not in Germany's interest. It divides Europe in foreign interests.«

In the election campaign, the AfD is particularly focusing on the energy crisis and is linking it to its stance on Russia. There is hardly an event in which AfD politicians do not call for new “gas from Russia” at some point. There is no mention of the fact that Russia itself had cut off gas deliveries to Germany.

The price is more important than the question of where the gas comes from, argues top candidate Ulrich Siegmund in events. Siegmund showed his fuel bill in a discussion among the top candidates and complained about the price.

A quarter of voters are still undecided

A new survey by the Elections Research Group sees the AfD still clearly ahead in Saxony-Anhalt. With its top candidate Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD could get 41 percent, one point more than last week. Prime Minister Sven Schulze's Christian Democrats remain unchanged at 23 percent. However, the opinion researchers point out that 26 percent of those surveyed are still undecided.

The Left follows in third place in the survey with 11.5 percent – ​​1.5 points less than the previous week. The SPD lost 0.5 points and got 8.5 percent, the Greens remained unchanged at 6 percent. The BSW with 4 percent (plus 1 point) and the FDP with 3 percent would not get over the five percent hurdle. The other parties together achieved 3 percent. The AfD's clear lead is in line with surveys from other institutes.

According to the polling institute, with an election result like the one in this survey, the AfD would miss its goal of governing alone. The more parties make it into parliament in Magdeburg, the less likely it is that an absolute majority will be for the AfD, which is classified by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt as firmly right-wing extremist.

Hallervorden promotes the CDU - but Merz calls it "as helpful as a snail in hurdles"

In Halle, cabaret artist Dieter Hallervorden campaigned on a large stage for voting for democratic parties - in order to keep the AfD down. Once again he also spoke out sharply against Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU).

Merz is “as helpful as a snail in hurdles” when it comes to solving the country’s problems, said Hallervorden. He was critical of the Chancellor's appearances in the CDU election campaign. Prime Minister Sven Schulze certainly didn't invite his party leader, "he was only too polite to say: Stay away."

Hallervorden performed on the market square as part of the “Halle stands up” event, a concert for democracy, encounters and social cohesion. In addition to Hallervorden, there were also appearances by Fury in the Slaughterhouse, and Peter Maffay also appeared later.

As an election recommendation, Hallervorden campaigned for the CDU despite Merz, saying Schulze was the "right man" for Saxony-Anhalt. But the SPD, the Greens and the Left should also be strengthened. He recommended that the CDU repeal the incompatibility decision against the Left. That's a lot of nonsense, the CDU has to overcome the Merz. But that'll happen: "We'll all still be here when Merz leaves at some point."

The Dessau native found clear words against the AfD. The way the party is divided “doesn’t fit at all with the way we live here in Saxony-Anhalt,” said Hallervorden. “We will show them: We are the majority!”

SPD top candidate Willingmann: “We are the dyke against the blue tide”

At the end of the SPD's election campaign in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony-Anhalt's SPD top candidate Armin Willingmann also highlighted the determined fight against the right. Regarding the AfD, Willingmann said that when a blue flood threatened, they wanted to counter it with the image of a dike. »If he stops, he helps everyone. If it breaks, everyone behind the dike is damaged," said Willingmann, who is the environment minister in Saxony-Anhalt. »We are the dyke against the blue tide.«

At the same time, Willingmann emphasized the successes in the black-red-yellow coalition in Saxony-Anhalt. School social work was secured, the income of primary school teachers was taken care of and the daycare system was secured. According to the SPD politician, the SPD stands for the compatibility of family and work.

Former SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel accused the AfD of fomenting hatred in Germany at the election campaign event in Wernigerode (Harz district). "I think that's the worst thing about this party, that it preaches hatred, that it wants to turn us against each other," said Gabriel.

Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) also emphasized with regard to the AfD that it was important to give a clear stop signal to agitators and demagogues. »This party must never have anything to say. It will end in chaos and an economic disaster,” said Woidke.

BSW accuses Merz of having started a “perpetual war” against Russia

Most parties celebrate the end of their election campaign on Friday or Saturday - the BSW already invited people to the edge of Halle's old town on Thursday. The mood was heated; Only about 100 interested people were there, but at the same time there were about a dozen activists. They loudly accused BSW boss Fabio De Masi of being an anti-Semite and a “Putin servant”. When BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht appeared, the disruptors booed loudly.

Meanwhile, on stage, BSW top staff said something familiar: the “old parties” had to be punished, Chancellor Friedrich Merz was a “walking arrogance,” and the media was running a “smear campaign” against the BSW. Gas from Russia must be allowed again; peace can be created from Saxony-Anhalt. What was new was that Germany had now “declared eternal war” on Russia. This refers to the closure of the Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin in response to the failed drone attack at Halle/Leipzig Airport.

Anyone who wants change, said Wagenknecht at the end of her speech, should vote for the BSW in the state parliament. They would not shy away from joint applications with the AfD. Election Sunday will have to show whether the strategy works. Recently, the BSW had shrunk again in the surveys, and the jump over the five percent hurdle is close.

After eight minutes the Chancellor is gone again

So that was it: Sven Schulze and Friedrich Merz appeared in front of the cameras for just eight minutes. Three days before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the spectacle “The CDU is hiding its chancellor during the election campaign” in the Leuna Chemical Park reaches its climax.

Schulze and Merz talk about the importance of the chemical industry, how it is coming under pressure due to the international crises - and warn against the AfD. The extreme right-wing party is questioning the EU, the internal market and Schengen, said the Chancellor. Anyone who is against it, i.e. who also wants to receive billions in investments like in Leuna, should not vote for AfD on Sunday.

But does the CDU still believe that it can win an election? Given the heated debate in Schulze's regional association about how to deal with the Left Party, one may have doubts about this. One would have liked to know from the Chancellor or Prime Minister how they see it. But questions are not allowed in Leuna that evening.