The inhabitants of Saxony-Anhalt will elect a new landtag. The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany, which is striving for power there, gains between 40 and 43 percent in recent polls. support. He has a chance to seek power at the federal state level for the first time.
Polling stations opened at 8. Voting will last until 18. The first partial results should be received before 19.
Merz's last chance?
The German press describes the vote in Saxony-Anhalt as "potentially historic" and calls it a "last-chance election for Chancellor Friedrich Merz." All PAP interlocutors in Saxony-Anhalt emphasize one thing - the issue of support or opposition to the AfD absolutely dominated the campaign, pushing local issues into the background.
AfD opponents are optimistic because, in their opinion, the campaign promoting "strategic voting" will be successful. The idea is to vote for the SPD or Greens, which are fighting to exceed the electoral threshold, and thus help them enter the landtag. The assumption is simple: if both parties are in parliament, the number of seats going to parties other than AfD will increase and the chance that this grouping will form a government will decrease.
Strong mobilization against the AfD
In Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, anti-AfD mobilization is broad, from churches to NGOs to trade unions. At the end of August, a "migrant strike" took place in the city. Over a hundred establishments, including shops, restaurants and hairdressers run by people of this origin, were closed for a few hours. This was a response to the demands of some AfD politicians regarding the need for mass deportations, modeled on those in the USA.
On Saturday, the day before the elections, a mass demonstration called the "Festival of Democracy" was planned in the city. It was co-organized by Pascal Begrich, managing director of the non-governmental organization Miteinander, which deals with counteracting extremism, conducts training for schools and local governments, and works with people undergoing radicalization. Begrich believes that one of the problems of the current campaign is the dominance of the narrative of crisis and decline. People have the impression that everything is getting worse, that Germany and Europe are standing on the precipice, that the European project is falling apart. This is a serious issue in the political debate - he says in an interview with PAP.
According to him, economic and social problems are real, but they do not correspond to the apocalyptic image often present on social media. There are reasons for concern, but there is no reason to panic, he emphasizes.
“They feel economically insecure.”
Rahim Hajji, professor of sociology at the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, points out that in eastern Germany there is weaker trust in institutions and greater susceptibility to conspiracy theories. Different attitudes towards migration, climate policy and Russia's war against Ukraine are important.
There are people who feel economically insecure, I emphasize the word "feel" - Hajji tells PAP.
In the conversations held in Saxony-Anhalt, the experience of transformation after 1990 regularly returns - the feeling that institutions and rules were "arranged by others", along with the outflow of young people to the West and the weakening of the roots of traditional parties. As Hajji notes, the AfD is particularly strong today among workers and people with secondary education, but it cannot be described solely as a party of economic protest.
"To save the country"
The tension can be seen, for example, in election posters. On AfD posters in the provinces you can see slogans: "To save the country" and "So that you can say what you think again." They accompany posters calling for the reconstruction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the re-import of gas from Russia. The posters of the other side accuse the AfD directly of Nazism.
At the same time, federal policy influences the election results. In conversations with PAP, local politicians in Magdeburg unofficially admit that the CDU/SPD government in Berlin makes them feel "wind in their eyes." Widespread dissatisfaction with the chancellor, economic policy, pensions and health care system is to be transferred to the elections, which formally concern the state authorities.
Despite this, Merz got involved in the final phase of the campaign. However, his visit to the state was not accompanied by a rally or meeting with the inhabitants. The weekly "Der Spiegel" assessed that the head of government was campaigning in "incognito mode" and has now become a burden rather than an asset for CDU politicians conducting the campaign.
