Saxony-Anhalt is a small state, with just under 2 million inhabitants, with the lowest economic strength and lowest life expectancy among Germany's 16 federal states.
Even so, when the state election takes place there, next Sunday (06/09), the eyes of the world will be focused on the capital, Magdeburg.
The result of the election could transform state deputy Ulrich Siegmund into the first governor of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the first politician from a party directory classified by the authorities as right-wing extremist to assume this position since the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.
Opinion polls show Siegmund and his party clearly in the lead, with between 40% and 43% of voting intentions. On the eve of the election, the question is whether the AfD will win an absolute majority of seats in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament, which would allow it to govern alone, or whether an alliance of other parties (all of which have ruled out governing with the AfD) will be able to prevent it from coming to power.
Who is Ulrich Siegmund?
Things are going great for 35-year-old Siegmund. During his state election campaign, he drew crowds even in small towns. He is often surrounded by a barrage of international journalists: from Canadian, Danish and Swiss broadcasters, the BBC and the British magazine The Economist, as well as dozens of reporters from across Germany. Everyone wants to know: who is Ulrich Siegmund?
The candidate was born in the small town of Havelberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, in 1990. He joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a center-right party, at the age of 19, but left the party five years later to join the AfD.
A former perfume salesman, he conveys a dynamic and athletic image: slim, handsome and young-looking. Above all, he is a cheerful person, playing the role of a charismatic leader in his public appearances.
With the campaign slogan "Everything is possible", Siegmund has been campaigning to try to more than double the 20.8% of votes received by the AfD in the state in 2021. In August, the weekly magazine Der Spiegel featured a photo of Siegmund on its cover with the title The most dangerous man in Germany. The AfD politician responded by ironically signing copies of the magazine at rallies.
DW followed his election campaign through the interior of Saxony-Anhalt. When he arrives in city squares in front of an enthusiastic crowd, he returns applause with smiles, handshakes and jokes. Nothing about his stance seems forced; It is clear that he enjoys the intense pace of the campaign.
"I don't know when there was last such a high approval rating, including among young people," Siegmund told DW. "It's just huge." He speaks quickly, articulately and with great naturalness.
Lively campaign, drastic program
Even critical observers share the assessment that the AfD is experiencing a favorable moment.
“AfD campaign events work impeccably, both in terms of logistics and political strategy,” observes David Begrich, from the Magdeburg-based organization Miteinander, which works to combat right-wing extremism. "It's sophisticated marketing of the party's policies."
But what exactly do the AfD's policies aim to achieve? Judging by Siegmund's campaign speeches, the aim is a return to a bygone era, when Germany did not yet see itself as a country of immigration, electricity came from nuclear power plants rather than wind turbines and the rights of the LGBTQ+ population were of no interest to anyone.
Siegmund claims to want to pursue a policy "of the people, for the people", as he often says in his speeches. Apparently this does not include all people living in the state.
The AfD's "immediate action plan for the first hundred days" contains proposals such as the central promise to "deport from the first minute" foreign citizens who have no legal right to stay in the country, but whose stay is tolerated on humanitarian grounds. Many of them found jobs and established their lives in Germany.
The plan also foresees funding cuts for pro-democracy NGOs, mandatory work for refugees and the prioritization of love for the German homeland over social diversity. In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD still wants to allow home education, as well as promoting Russian classes and abolishing the "inclusion" of students with special needs in mixed classes.
There are, however, significant legal doubts about whether a state government would actually have the authority to implement all of these promises.
Controversial advisors
Doubts also fall on the image of integrity and honesty that Siegmund cultivates and seeks to convey to his party.
He was unable to escape accusations of nepotism that dogged the AfD after reports emerged that several state and federal parliamentarians from the party had secured well-paying jobs for friends and relatives in the offices of other AfD politicians.
Siegmund himself arranged a position for his father. Although this is not illegal, the attitude was poorly received, even within the AfD.
The people around Siegmund also draw attention. In addition to being the AfD's main candidate in the state, he is also the leader of the party's bench in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament.
According to information from the newspaper Die Welt, this group employs four former members of a currently banned neo-Nazi organization, the Heimattreuen Deutsche Jugend (HDJ, or German Youth Faithful to the Fatherland).
Before being banned, the organization openly admired Adolf Hitler's Nazism and followed his racial ideology, responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma during the Holocaust.
Furthermore, during campaign events, Siegmund shows little concern about keeping his distance from neo-Nazi symbols or supporters from the radical far right. DW observed him in public appearances alongside men who wore clothing or tattoos associated with the neo-Nazi scene, such as the so-called "Black Sun", an internationally recognized symbol among neo-Nazi groups.
How far can you go?
But what would all this mean if the AfD came to power after the state election? "There are many signs that, if the AfD takes over the government, it will transform Saxony-Anhalt into a political laboratory", analyzes Begrich.
"How far can one go in violating the written and, perhaps more importantly, the unwritten rules of democratic culture in a German state?"
For this reason, churches, unions, associations, political parties and broad sectors of civil society warn of the risks of a victory for the AfD and Siegmund.
Begrich shares this concern.
"Naturally, things would become difficult, above all, for those who belong to minorities or who do not fit the ideological and political vision of the AfD. The social climate would inevitably move towards authoritarian regulation of public life, and this would be a problem for people who need liberal openness in society as much as they need air to breathe."
Like many critics, Begrich believes that winning in Saxony-Anhalt is just the first step for a party that aims to come to power across Germany.
