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🇩🇰 Denmark /Elections & Politics

AfD leader says election victory gives party a clear mandate to form government

From Berlingske · () Danish

Translated from Danish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Preliminary projections put the AfD above 44% in Saxony-Anhalt, with lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund calling the result a mandate to form a government.
  • The projections translate into 39 to 41 seats, short of the 42 needed for an absolute majority in the 83-seat state parliament.
  • Coalition options remain uncertain because established parties reject cooperation with the AfD, while the BSW says it could work with the party on individual issues.

Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, says preliminary election results give his party a clear mandate to form the state government. Projections on Sunday evening put the AfD above 44% as votes were still being counted.

We have made history today.

· Ulrich SiegmundThe AfD's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt celebrated preliminary projections showing the party above 44%.

“We have made history today,” Siegmund said, according to Tagesschau. He said he would reach out to other political forces, but only those prepared to support a clear change in political direction. “What will not happen with me is bending our own values to gain the opportunity to take power,” he said.

Before the election, Siegmund had reportedly said the AfD would govern only with an absolute majority. That would require 42 of the state parliament's 83 seats. Current projections give the party between 39 and 41 seats, meaning the final outcome remains unresolved.

What will not happen with me is bending our own values to gain the opportunity to take power.

· Ulrich SiegmundSiegmund said he would seek partners without compromising the AfD's values.

Other parties have ruled out cooperation with the right-wing party under the so-called firewall intended to keep the far right from influence. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told ARD that voters had rejected that barrier. “The traditional parties have been voted out,” he said, adding that voters had delivered “a clear verdict” and that other parties should recognize the firewall had been definitively rejected.

The traditional parties have been voted out.

· Tino ChrupallaThe AfD co-leader argued that voters had rejected the political firewall against cooperation with the party.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said the party was ready to talk to any “reasonable” partner and claimed it had received “a very clear mandate to govern here.” The final balance of power will depend in part on smaller parties and whether they clear the 5% threshold. The left-wing BSW is on the edge, with one projection showing it entering parliament and another leaving it out. Its lead candidate, Claudia Wittig, said BSW could cooperate with the AfD on individual issues, including energy prices, and called it “completely undemocratic” to exclude the AfD from any government arrangement given its election result.

It would be completely undemocratic not to involve the AfD in a government arrangement in some way, given its election result.

· Claudia WittigThe BSW lead candidate discussed possible cooperation with the AfD after the projected result.
About this summary

Originally published by Berlingske in Danish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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