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🇨🇭 Switzerland /Elections & Politics

COMMENTARY: In Saxony-Anhalt, voters rejected the old order but did not choose a new one

From Neue Zürcher Zeitung · () German

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

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • The AfD emerged as the clear winner in Saxony-Anhalt, nearly reaching an absolute majority of seats while doubling its result and helping cut the CDU’s strength in half.
  • The previous coalition lost any path to a majority, but the AfD also lacks one on its own, leaving the state’s governing future uncertain.
  • The commentary argues that the AfD now sets the terms for talks and potential alliances, while rival parties failed to offer a convincing alternative strategy.

The AfD is no longer going away, and after its decisive victory in Saxony-Anhalt it can no longer be politically isolated, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung commentary argues. The party now helps determine the conditions under which any majority can emerge in the eastern German state.

The government was voted out. The AfD came close to an absolute majority in the Magdeburg state parliament and doubled its result, while the CDU was cut roughly in half. The SPD settled into the single digits, and the FDP lost its representation. The previous coalition therefore has no chance of retaining a majority.

Yet the AfD does not currently have a majority either. The election has created a rupture in which every other force may be needed to keep the party from power. AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund no longer ruled out taking responsibility for government, unlike before the election. He said he wanted to extend a hand to everyone and was waiting to see who would take it. Björn Höcke, the party’s Thuringia leader and head of its far-right wing, also presented himself as a conciliator and called for an end to polarization.

I want to extend a hand to everyone and am curious to see who takes it.

· Ulrich SiegmundThe AfD’s lead candidate did not rule out taking part in government after the election.

The commentary treats that language with suspicion, but says the political signs in Magdeburg have nevertheless been reversed. The AfD is now inviting talks, setting conditions, drawing red lines and considering a minority government. Mathematically, it could form a majority with any party.

The voters, the article says, destroyed the old order with high mobilization and turnout. That benefited the AfD and the three similarly sized parties, the Left, SPD and Greens, but did nothing for the CDU. The losing parties offered what the commentary calls clumsy and comfortable explanations, citing difficult times, unusual circumstances, populists and headwinds from Berlin. Their campaigns focused on preventing the AfD rather than presenting a convincing strategy of their own.

Pretty stable.

· SPD lead candidateHe used the phrase to describe his party’s result despite the SPD receiving 9%.
About this summary

Originally published by Neue Zürcher Zeitung in German. 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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