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AfD party’s landslide win in eastern Germany tests country’s ‘firewall’ against the far right
AfD’s 43.8% vote share and 39 seats could force other parties to consider unusual alliances to keep the far right out of power.
On Sunday, the Alternative for Germany surged into first place in Saxony-Anhalt state elections with 44% of the vote, placing a far-right party on the cusp of state power for the first time since World War II.
This result handed a drubbing to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union , ending the party's 24-year leadership in Saxony-Anhalt as voters expressed deep unpopularity with the ruling coalition's direction.
The AfD secured 43.8% of the vote, representing 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament, with 35-year-old lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund declaring, "We have made history in this country."
Alice Weidel, AfD co-chair, told CNN she expects Merz to be out by Christmas, while the Chancellor prepares for cabinet crisis talks today amid official results expected tonight.
Voter turnout reached 77% in the election, reflecting a fracturing political landscape as the rise of hardline parties positions the AfD as a major force ahead of federal elections in 2029.
Reassured by its electoral victory in eastern Germany, the far-right AfD party displayed its national ambitions today, although the party did not obtain an absolute majority in Parliament.
From Moscow many eyes look at the outcome of yesterday's election. Russian media see Siegmund in the office and Merz in the dead end. But the Kremlin remains strangely silent.