Saxony-Anhalt's government will not take over the chairmanship of the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK) on October 1st. In a letter to the current chairman Gordon Schnieder, Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt's state leader Sven Schulze (CDU) justified this with the uncertain formation of a government in Magdeburg. Assuming responsibility for coordination between the countries is therefore “no longer appropriate”.
“In particular, under these conditions, flawless technical and content-related preparation and implementation of the annual MPK cannot be guaranteed,” wrote Schulze in the letter, which was available to the Reuters news agency. He asked Rhineland-Palatinate to coordinate with the MPK co-chair Lower Saxony and make a proposal for the further procedure.
After the CDU election fiasco in Saxony-Anhalt, the deputy state party leader of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Tino Schomann, is calling for the replacement of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). “Berlin bears the main responsibility,” he told NDR, referring to the election defeat. The Chancellor is stoking people's fears and breaking promises.
Schomann no longer believes Merz is suitable as head of government. "We need a personality who conveys empathy, credibility and reliability. He has shown that he cannot do that." Merz has to get off his chair and someone else has to get up there, he told the dpa news agency.
The next state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is coming up in a week and a half.
The CDU parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt has elected Prime Minister Sven Schulze as its new chairman. Two days after the CDU's defeat in the state elections, Schulze prevailed in a vote against the previous parliamentary group leader Guido Heuer in Magdeburg, according to information from the dpa news agency. The Spiegel also reported.
It had already been indicated that Schulze wanted to run for parliamentary group chairmanship. Sven Knobloch from MDR said on tagesschau24: "This comes as quite a surprise."
Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized the importance of Europe for Germany in view of the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt. “I can only urgently warn against a path back to national solutions,” said the CDU politician in Berlin. "Only the European Union gives us the opportunity to ensure almost fair conditions for our industry on the world market, and therefore any threat to the European Union must be avoided," emphasized the minister.
Wadephul added: Anyone who advocates leaving the eurozone is endangering prosperity, security and freedom. AfD leader Alice Weidel has repeatedly advocated for Germany to leave the euro zone.
The Greens in Saxony-Anhalt have shown themselves to be open to the BSW's proposal for a non-partisan Prime Minister. The Green Party's leading candidate Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz calls this a "very unusual idea" in the taz. "But it wouldn't fail because of us - we are ready to talk," she added.
The alternatives are an AfD-led government or a stalemate in which no new head of government is elected. An independent candidate is "the last straw if we want to prevent both a fascist government and a blockade in the country."
BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has spoken out in favor of electing an AfD politician as state parliament president in Saxony-Anhalt. This would give the AfD the necessary majority for the top office. It would be the first time nationwide that she would appoint the president of a state parliament. In Saxony-Anhalt, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the AfD as definitely right-wing extremist. The party is taking action against it and the proceedings are currently suspended.
“Whether we elect someone depends, of course, on the specific candidacy,” Wagenknecht told Stern. It is undisputed "that the AfD, as by far the strongest faction, is entitled to the office of President of Parliament." The newly elected parliamentary managing director of the BSW state parliamentary group, John Lucas Dittrich, said, "The AfD will receive our votes for the state parliament president."
The Green Party interior expert Konstantin von Notz has called on the constitutional protection authorities and the Ministry of the Interior to urgently implement protective measures in the event of an AfD taking over government in Saxony-Anhalt. “The current refusal attitude of the politically responsible is extremely dangerous,” said von Notz. The fact that the Federal and State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution apparently only wanted to discuss their next steps this week came too late and could have "fatal consequences."
At least since the AfD's electoral success in Saxony-Anhalt, those responsible must "be clear that these are certainly not purely hypothetical scenarios and that we finally have to act with the necessary determination."
CSU boss Markus Söder is extremely skeptical about the call for a federal-state working group on the constitutional handling of the AfD from North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst. “Despite all the fundamental understanding that one would prefer this AfD not to be there, the reality is that it is hardly enforceable constitutionally,” he said, referring to a possible AfD ban procedure, after a cabinet meeting in Munich. In addition to a year-long process, there is a risk that the AfD will acquire a new martyr status.
The CSU will not fundamentally close itself to discussions in a federal-state group, said Söder. But he emphasized: "In a democracy you have to work with democratic means and the democratic way means preparing for the next elections differently than in Saxony-Anhalt, finding clearer arguments." The CSU does not believe that a ban procedure would work.
The AfD's electoral success in Saxony-Anhalt deeply affected former Chancellor Angela Merkel. That was “simply shocking,” said the former CDU party leader at Deutsche Telekom’s Digital X trade fair in Cologne. Her party suffered a bitter defeat in the state and saw its share of the vote halved. “As a CDU member, my heart bleeds,” said the Christian Democrat. The result is a “break” in the history of the Federal Republic
The former CDU party leader recommended a different type of communication in order to better reach the population and better explain progress. “Addressing citizens individually” has probably become more important than before, said Merkel. She finds it worrying that facts no longer have such a high priority for many citizens and that feelings are instead referred to.
After the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the BSW announced that it would also talk to the AfD about cooperation. "For us there is no firewall. We will talk to all parties," said the newly elected parliamentary group leader Thomas Schulze, according to the dpa news agency.
He congratulated the AfD on its election victory. When asked whether he expressly ruled out a coalition with the AfD, Schulze answered evasively. He emphasized: "The current government coalition has been voted out. We have to accept that and that is what we call democracy."
His deputy Claudia Wittig said: “We are not going into coalition negotiations, we are talking about projects.” We will talk to all parties about the positions that we want for Saxony-Anhalt.
North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst is calling for a federal-state working group on the constitutional handling of the AfD and possible consequences. This review must be open-ended and should not automatically lead to a ban, the CDU politician told the dpa news agency.
“I warn against taking quick measures to ban the AfD, because banning a political party can only be the last resort if we want to protect our constitution,” said Wüst. He explained: "There must now be a structure in which these questions are examined carefully, professionally and seriously by the federal and state governments."
Two days after the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil admitted that the government had lost trust. “If we want to regain trust for the necessary changes, then the question of the fairness of the changes must be the focus,” he said in the budget debate in the Bundestag.
We should not allow “the systematic dismantling of our welfare state to be carried out under the slogan of reform,” emphasized the SPD leader. "We need a functioning welfare state so that Germany can be a strong country." The leadership of the coalition also agrees on this.
The Protestant regional bishop for Magdeburg, Bettina Schlauraff, has stated that her church sees itself as a place of protection for people who experience discrimination. "So we as a church are not apolitical, because the issues of justice, peace and the preservation of creation are, so to speak, written in our hearts." She added: "Someone has to explain to people why the AfD is right-wing extremist." It's now about "doing a lot of educational work, a lot of encounter work, a lot of advisory work - and explaining again how democracy works."
If there is an AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt, "people will notice that politics is different in many places," says political scientist Benjamin Höhne from Chemnitz University of Technology in an interview with tagesschau24. Some wanted exactly that - but "for others it will mean serious cuts," said Höhne. This leads to some people openly thinking about leaving the country.
Höhne identifies a future focus of a possible AfD state government in the “culture war area”. There, “relatively large effects can be achieved for one’s own following” without major costs. The political scientist cites attempts to influence the courts, protection of minorities, public broadcasting, the financing of churches, freedom of universities, schools and educational plans as examples of "gateways".
Saxony-Anhalt's FDP state chairwoman Lydia Hüskens will remain in office until the next regular party conference in just over seven months. In a statement from the state party it was said that Hüskens was standing down as chairwoman. She will run the business in coordination with the state executive board until the next regular state party conference at the beginning of March.
“I am responsible for the result,” Hüskens is quoted in the statement. “But responsibility also means not leaving any gaps.” The regional association doesn't need a hanging game, and the decision should be well prepared. Therefore, three regional conferences are to be held in Halle, Magdeburg and Dessau, at which candidates for the state chairmanship can present themselves. The election results should also be debated.
The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt wants to invite all parties represented in the state parliament to exploratory talks. “Tomorrow, every party represented in the state parliament will receive a letter from us inviting us to exploratory talks,” said the parliamentary managing director of the AfD state parliamentary group, Tobias Rausch, on the MDR program “Fakt ist”. "Of course, because we don't have an absolute majority now, we are willing to compromise on certain things." We'll see who accepts the offers to talk. When asked, he named the CDU and BSW as specific possible discussion partners.
BSW top candidate Claudia Wittig once again emphasized that she did not want to enter into a coalition with the AfD. "We have always said that we will not enter into a coalition. We want the government to be governed by changing majorities." It's about finding majorities for individual projects. The CDU had also clearly ruled out a coalition with the AfD.
After the AfD's election victory in Saxony-Anhalt, initiatives and projects against right-wing extremism are calling for help from outside. Saxony-Anhalt should not be left alone, federal politics must also politically support and protect the local people, said the managing director of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, Timo Reinfrank, to journalists. To this end, the foundation launched a petition for a “democracy protective shield”.
Robert Fietzke, head of the Zora socio-cultural center in Halberstadt, said a new wave of racist and right-wing violence would now begin. There is a risk of a new edition of the “baseball bat years” of the 1990s. If the AfD takes over the Ministry of the Interior in a new state government, the police cannot be expected to provide effective protection, said Fietzke. Many people who turned against the AfD during the election campaign are now sad and frustrated - and afraid.
BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has repeatedly called for gas to be imported from Russia on a large scale again. Wagenknecht announced that the BSW parliamentary group would submit a corresponding application to the new state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt: “Our gas storage facilities are empty before winter than ever before,” she told the Reuters news agency. "In one of our first motions in the Magdeburg state parliament, we will call for the opening of Nord Stream and the return to Russian gas in order to fill the gas storage facilities as quickly as possible by winter."
She assumes that there will be a majority in favor of this in the new state parliament - "including the votes of the AfD." “That would be a strong signal for a new political beginning if Saxony-Anhalt calls for an end to the fatal Russia sanctions.”
The EU wants to completely stop using Russian gas by the end of 2027. Germany has no longer imported gas via pipeline from Russia since 2022. Around 20 percent of gas imports currently come from the Netherlands, 24 percent from Belgium and 42 percent from Norway. The gas storage facilities in Germany are currently about half full.
Against the backdrop of the AfD's success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) highlighted the contribution of immigrants to Germany's economic success. “You have made this country economically stronger and culturally richer,” said the Vice-Chancellor in his speech when the budget was introduced to the Bundestag. “Especially in these days” it must be clear: “We do not accept racism or exclusionary policies in a democracy,” said Klingbeil, indirectly referring to the election in Saxony-Anhalt.
Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) has criticized the concept of the firewall. He told the broadcaster Welt TV that the election in Saxony-Anhalt was a “final warning shot”. That's why he is firmly convinced: "Talk to everyone, talk about everything, build bridges in the middle, don't push them behind firewalls. That's the wrongest path you can take."
