AfD scores record victory in Saxony-Anhalt, moving closer than ever to governing

The Alternative for Germany has recorded its biggest result yet, according to early projections from Saxony-Anhalt. The far-right party won 44 percent and emerged as the clear largest force in the state parliament, delivering what CDU parliamentary leader Thorsten Frei called “a turning point for our country.”

The result was also a severe setback for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU. The party was projected to win 19 percent, roughly half its seats from the previous election. Die Linke, the SPD, the Greens and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance were all projected to pass the 5 percent threshold, with results of 9 percent, 8 percent, 9 percent and 5 percent respectively.

The numbers left no straightforward majority. The AfD had sought an absolute majority so it could govern without a coalition partner or compromise, but projections suggested it would fall just short. Party leader Alice Weidel said on ARD that “our hand is extended to everyone who wants to work with us.”

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A turning point for our country

The only party appearing open to cooperation was the left-populist BSW. A government formed by the two parties would put two strongly pro-Russian forces in charge of Saxony-Anhalt. If the BSW ultimately fell below the 5 percent threshold, the AfD could still have enough seats to govern alone.

Such an outcome would mark the first time in modern Germany that a party classified as far-right by domestic security services entered government. State authorities control areas including education, healthcare, culture, police and justice. The AfD’s program includes separate classes for children in asylum procedures, withdrawing subsidies from cultural institutions that do not declare themselves pro-German, abolishing public broadcasting, and deporting people from the start of the asylum process. It also calls for converting an asylum center into a prison and seeks what it describes as a cultural-policy upheaval modeled on Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

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Our hand is extended to everyone who wants to work with us.