Ex-leader criticizes warnings against Left Party tolerance ahead of state election

Christoph Bergner, a former Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, has publicly criticized warnings issued by two former state CDU leaders against the party potentially tolerating the Left Party in the state parliament. Bergner contends that ruling out such tolerance could inadvertently pave the way for a minority government led by the far-right AfD.

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Whoever rules out a CDU-led minority government in the event that the middle parties do not have a majority after the election, enables an AfD-led minority government instead.

In an interview with 'Freie Presse,' Bergner highlighted the potential for an AfD candidate to win a minority government in a third round of voting, where a simple majority suffices. He pointed to "sensible solutions" found in Thuringia and Saxony in 2024, where the Left Party supported minority CDU-led governments, enabling their formation. Bergner himself led Saxony-Anhalt briefly in 1994 before a red-green minority government, dependent on PDS (the Left Party's predecessor) tolerance, took power.

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In Thuringia and Saxony, sensible solutions were found so that CDU Minister-Presidents could also be elected to office without a CDU majority in the state parliament.

Last week, former CDU state chairs Karl-Heinz Daehre and Gerd Gies sent an open letter to current Minister-President Sven Schulze, warning that the CDU would "sink into insignificance" if it allowed itself to be tolerated by the Left Party, as they claimed happened during the "Magdeburg Model" era of 1994-2002, which they described as "devastating."

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The CDU will 'sink into insignificance' if it allows itself to be tolerated by the Left Party, as happened in the 'Magdeburg Model' from 1994-2002.

Saxony-Anhalt is set to hold state elections on September 6. Current polls indicate the AfD is leading significantly, potentially jeopardizing the majority of the incumbent coalition comprising the CDU, SPD, and FDP. While Minister-President Schulze has stated he will not form a coalition with either the AfD or the Left Party, a minority government scenario, possibly requiring occasional cooperation with the Left Party, remains a possibility.

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There will be neither ministers from the Left Party nor from the AfD in his government.