(MAGDEBURG, SAXONY-ANHALT, GERMANY) – Germany’s far right Alternative for Germany party has won a record 44 percent of the vote in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, according to preliminary results and exit polls.
The result places the AfD far ahead of the conservative CDU, which secured 17.8 percent. It is not yet clear whether the AfD vote share will be enough to take power in the state, but the party claims it has won a mandate to govern.
No far right party has won control of a German state since the Second World War. Governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture.
The AfD’s leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, described the result as sensational and said the party wanted to start governing as soon as possible.
“This isn’t just about Saxony-Anhalt,” Siegmund told supporters. “It’s a signal for the whole of Germany, a self confident signal.”
Saxony-Anhalt has a population of 2.1 million. The AfD in the state is assessed by domestic intelligence as right wing extremist, a classification rejected by Siegmund.
The projected result is higher than earlier opinion polls suggested. Siegmund and joint national leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla celebrated as the news emerged.
The AfD wants to rebuild ties with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s Russia and end what it calls culturally alien mass immigration.
“We have achieved exactly what we wanted. We have written history. People gave a clear political signal in this state. We need a fundamentally different political approach, putting our own interests, our own country first,” Siegmund said.
The party’s campaign harnessed nostalgia for the past and anxieties in the present. One supporter said she wanted her country to be safe.
“There’s too many criminals here from also from other countries. I’m not saying that Germans aren’t criminals. Of course, we also have some criminals, but it’s just getting too much,” she said.
The AfD classification as right wing extremist inspires passionate opposition. Anti AfD protesters demonstrated against the party’s plan to ban LGBT rainbow pride flags from local schools.
The result is a blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Support for his CDU party appears to have almost halved in the state.
The outcome has the potential to further dent his authority and destabilise his government, which runs Europe’s largest economy.
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