AfD Wins Big in German Regional Election but Falls Short of Majority

The Alternative for Germany won a resounding victory in Saxony-Anhalt but missed the outright majority it needed to govern alone, leaving Germany’s political establishment facing an uncertain result.

AfD secured 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament, three short of a majority. Its lead candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, said the party had “written history” and received a clear mandate to govern. He said voters had signaled that “things cannot carry on like this.”

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We have written history.

The party had sought an absolute majority to overcome the so-called firewall maintained by mainstream parties that refuse to work with AfD. Siegmund said AfD would not engage in “games” such as forming a minority government. However, the fragmented opposition may struggle to assemble a stable government without the party.

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Things cannot carry on like this.

A far-right state government would be the biggest prize in AfD’s 13-year history. The party has gained strength in eastern Germany, including the formerly communist and less prosperous regions, amid broad dissatisfaction with a national government that has not convinced voters it can revive the sluggish economy.

The result also weakened Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose center-right party had led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years. AfD is Germany’s largest opposition party in the national parliament. Its Saxony-Anhalt branch is classified by the domestic intelligence agency as a proven right-wing extremist group. AfD rejects such accusations as politically motivated and promotes “remigration,” a term referring to the deportation of immigrants.

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A very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz.