The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is actively seeking to form a government in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, following a significant electoral performance that saw the party secure 43.8% of the vote.
Preliminary results from Sunday's election indicate the AfD secured 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament, falling three seats short of the 42 required for an outright majority. This outcome marks a historic moment, as no far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt, declared on Monday that the party had won a "clear mandate to govern." His deputy parliamentary leader, Beatrix von Storch, told the BBC that the AfD was "very, very close" to taking power and urged opposing parties to engage in dialogue. "You cannot say, I do not accept the vote of the people," von Storch stated, adding that if parties refused to work with the AfD, "then we might end up in severe chaos and maybe we have a new election."
The result has sent shockwaves through Germany's political landscape. Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his deep concern, describing the outcome as "seismic... not just in the country but also in my own political party." His conservative CDU party saw its share of the vote almost halved to 17.2% in the state. Merz called for "profound reforms" and acknowledged the need for the CDU to "reach people at an emotional level," stating it was not possible to return to "business as usual."
Even the defeated CDU premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Sven Schulze, conceded that the mandate to govern the state "now lies with the AfD."
The AfD's policies for Saxony-Anhalt have drawn considerable controversy. These include proposals to segregate child refugees into special classes and establish a task force to detain and deport migrants who no longer have the right to remain in the state. The party's national policy of "remigration," widely interpreted as mass deportations of migrants, is also highly contentious, although the AfD maintains it targets criminals and those in the country illegally. Domestic intelligence agencies classify the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as "right-wing extremist," a classification rejected by Siegmund.
The path to government for the AfD remains uncertain. Von Storch indicated that the party is in discussions with individuals within the CDU group, the largest party in both the state's outgoing coalition and Germany's national government, noting they are "very, very unhappy with their own party."
One potential avenue being explored is an informal agreement where a smaller party, such as the left-wing populist BSW, could offer tacit support for an AfD-led minority government. The BSW, which is projected to win five seats, shares a tough stance on immigration and advocates for importing Russian gas. Siegmund confirmed that discussions with various parties commenced on Sunday night, with outcomes potentially taking days or weeks.
"We reach out to everybody first, we will have consultations and then we'll see whether [there are] individual parliamentary groups or MPs who would be willing to help us," Siegmund explained. Other theoretical possibilities, such as a messy CDU-led minority coalition, appear unlikely, with a new election remaining an option, particularly as Siegmund has expressed unwillingness to compromise on the party's policy goals.
The victory in Saxony-Anhalt, a state with a population of 2.1 million, comes as the AfD leads national opinion polls, particularly in Germany's eastern states. The party also won the 2024 state election in neighbouring Thuringia but similarly failed to secure enough seats to form a government. Merz described the Saxony-Anhalt result as the CDU's worst defeat in "years, if not decades," acknowledging the "increasing significance" of upcoming regional elections in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania and Berlin.
Commentators and political opponents have widely described the AfD's success as a watershed moment. Siegmund told supporters overnight that the result was "a signal for the whole of Germany - a self-confident signal."
International reactions to the AfD's performance have varied. Former US President Donald Trump shared a screenshot of the projected results on his Truth Social platform. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev then reposted Trump's message, praising a "historic win for the pragmatic AfD," having previously described the Russia-friendly party as "the party of hope and reason." Conversely, Polish centre-right Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised the outcome, stating, "in Poland only idiots and traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD."
Addressing fears over the far-right party gaining power, Beatrix von Storch attributed her supporters' concerns to "losing our economy, they are afraid of losing our inner security." She suggested that conservative voters were turning to alternative parties because they felt unheard, warning that "The conservative parties will disappear from the landscape as it happened in Italy, as it's about to happen in the UK, as it might also happen in France."
