Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) is strictly against the abolition of compulsory schooling called for by the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. "Giving up compulsory schooling would be a socio-political catastrophe," said the CDU politician to the dpa news agency. Instead, from the minister's point of view, one should "think more about mandatory approaches in daycare."
In its program for the state elections this Sunday, the AfD advocates freedom of choice between school and home education under the heading “Compulsory education instead of compulsory schooling”. Children who are educated at home should take central exams every six months.
From Prien's point of view, that would be the wrong approach. “I consider compulsory schooling to be one of the great achievements of the modern constitutional state,” said the minister. »Children need school as a place to learn and live. Children who do not go to school are at risk of significant psychological impairments. Schools are where people from different backgrounds meet and are places of integration and social interaction. “People already move far too much in their bubbles,” said Prien.
The state in no way forces children to attend state schools. Rather, parents could opt for private alternatives with different concepts, for example church or Montessori schools. However, there is state supervision and common rules for these schools.
The head of the German Economic Institute (IW), Michael Hüther, warns of a “ruinous” immigration policy and its consequences for the state if the AfD wins the election in Saxony-Anhalt. “Given its demographics, Germany is dependent on qualified immigration from abroad,” said Hüther to the “Rheinische Post”. "Anyone who wants to compete for foreign skilled workers must not support a party that openly calls for their expulsion," he added.
»For Saxony-Anhalt itself, an immigration policy according to the AfD's ideas would be ruinous. Due to the unfavorable demographics, the working population in Saxony-Anhalt will, according to our forecasts, decline by around a quarter by 2045 without immigration. For every employable person in Saxony-Anhalt, there would then be more than one person who does not work," explained Hüther, emphasizing that this would "drive the country to the wall economically."
"An AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt would be a stress test for liberal democracy and would test its resilience," explained the IW boss. According to surveys by the institute, “six out of ten East German entrepreneurs” see democracy as being at risk.
Major election research institutes are not expecting any surprises in Sunday's election, as they were five years ago, when the AfD was weaker than in the polls and the CDU was significantly stronger than expected. »We do not expect such a large mobilization effect in the last few days as in 2021. At that time, (Prime Minister Reiner) Haseloff's CDU was able to rally the AfD opponents behind them. This time the AfD opponents are divided more widely across different parties," said the head of the elections research group, Matthias Jung, to the dpa news agency. His colleagues from Infratest dimap and Insa made similar comments.
In the last Saxony-Anhalt election in 2021, the CDU was only slightly ahead of the AfD or even behind the AfD in surveys, but in the end it won by more than 16 percentage points. "The problem last time wasn't the methodology of the survey," explained Jung. The surveys showed the opinion a few days before the 2021 election, but this then changed significantly by election day. East German voters feel less tied to individual parties than West German voters - which makes the elections more difficult to predict.
Insa boss Hermann Binkert explained: "Reiner Haseloff was a very popular Prime Minister; he won a lot of votes for the CDU in the final stages of the election." But he does not expect such a clear effect from the current Prime Minister Sven Schulze (CDU).
The head of Infratest-dimap, Roland Abold, said that parties from the Left to the CDU mobilize particularly strongly before elections when the AfD has high poll numbers. However, this has hardly been visible in Saxony-Anhalt so far. Nevertheless: »In the last few weeks we have seen movement among the Greens and, to a lesser extent, the SPD. Both have stabilized in the polls above the five percent threshold - probably an effect of the tactical voting campaigns. There could still be dynamics here before the election." Tactical voting means that AfD opponents do not vote for their favored party, but rather the party whose entry into the state parliament they hope could prevent a majority for the AfD.
Insa boss Binkert also no longer sees any momentum for the CDU, but he believes it is still possible to a certain extent with other parties beyond the AfD: “Anti-AfD voters may tactically vote for the Greens and SPD this time. This could be a new dynamic. However, this is not on the scale of 2021.”
The Catholic Magdeburg Bishop Gerhard Feige has already been personally attacked by the AfD, and in an interview he now warns against the party. Feige told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”: “People can be seduced at all times. That scares me. Now again.” The AfD is being normalized and thus trivialized, which shocks him. "In recent years there have been so many dam breaches and border violations."
Feige explained that many of the things that the AfD propagated had now become part of everyday life. »The terms “old parties” or “remigration” are now the most normal thing in the world, everyone talks about them. “Remigration” means the forced expulsion of people with a migration history.” After the “Potsdam meeting” of right-wing extremists and AfD politicians, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets at the beginning of 2024. "Today the word is in the election program of the AfD Saxony-Anhalt - and that obviously doesn't bother many people."
The bishop recalled: "Victor Klemperer wrote in 1947 about the language of National Socialism - and how consciousness is changed through language." He understands better and better how the NSDAP once grew stronger, said Feige. »Democracy carries with it the potential for self-destruction. It can be abolished using your own methods." He is therefore convinced: "Not everyone who votes or is elected democratically is a democrat."
Entertainer Hape Kerkeling used his “Golden Hen” award on Friday evening to make a voting recommendation for the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. "If you cast your vote on Sunday, then you are also voting for the MDR, the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and its radio waves," he said in his acceptance speech, addressing the people of Saxony-Anhalt directly. "And if you don't do it, I'll come over personally with a flashlight and a microphone and broadcast to you alone," Kerkeling continued.
The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt had announced that it would terminate the state broadcasting contracts in the event of a sole government. The party is in favor of a fundamental reorganization of public broadcasting. The MDR state treaty regulates the organization and mission of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Each of the three sponsoring states - Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia - can terminate the contract with two years' notice to the end of a calendar year.
Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) warns against Russia and other states exerting influence in the event of an AfD sole government in Saxony-Anhalt. "It's about whether Saxony-Anhalt continues to be sovereign, whether decisions are made here about what happens here or whether in the future we have to get approval from Mr. Putin, from Mr. Trump, from Mr. »It's also about the sovereignty of Germany and Europe. That’s the choice here.”
He also renewed his call for a party ban procedure for parts of the AfD. "I think it needs to be seriously examined whether the wing around Höcke is violating the principles of the German Basic Law and our constitution." This also applies to the other parts of the party that follow this ideology, said Özdemir. The NPD ban process failed not because the NPD was not unconstitutional, but because it was too insignificant to endanger democracy. “You can’t say that now with the AfD.”
But self-criticism is also needed. "That doesn't relieve us of the task of dealing with the question of why we lost so many people," said Özdemir, referring to the AfD's increasing election results. The democratic parties should ask themselves what they did wrong.
Ulrich Siegmund gave his speech at the “family festival,” as the right-wing extremist AfD likes to call its events, somewhat late. He is already preparing for the eventuality that the AfD does not meet its election target of “45 percent plus X” and sole government. “No matter how it turns out, we did it,” shouts Siegmund, and “in principle” we “won the election.” That doesn't sound certain of victory, but the crowd, at 2,000 people significantly smaller than the AfD had previously hoped, cheered. During his speech, they chanted “East-East-East Germany” and “We are the people.” As is so often the case, neo-Nazi symbols were visible at the event, on clothing, arms and legs, and they were not expelled from the square.
The AfD celebrates on an island in the Elbe, while the Left party celebrates in the middle of the city center. At the same time, the party is inviting people to the end of the election campaign in Magdeburg and Halle, and top staff are expected to commute.
It starts in Magdeburg, in addition to top candidate Eva von Angern, the party leaders Ines Schwerdtner and Luigi Pantisano, parliamentary group leader Heidi Reichinnek and the “silver curls” Gregor Gysi, Dietmar Bartsch and Bodo Ramelow are there. However: The party's star line-up does not attract 200 interested people to the event on Friday afternoon.
The fight against the right and for more social justice are their main topics. Von Angern says she is proud not to have shaken hands with “Lügmund,” meaning AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund. The audience cheers. She advocates for more child protection, investments in education - and homeland security: "We won't let our homeland be taken away from us," says von Angern. “There will be no right-wing extremist state government now and not later either.”
Reichinnek says that the Left remains on the side of the people and stands up for democracy, tolerance, diversity and justice. And she emphasized how important it is to finally bring women into the focus of politics - unlike other parties.
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.
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.
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.
