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Far right sweeps Saxony-Anhalt and positions itself to govern a German state for the first time

From La Nación · () Spanish

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

At a glance

News From a news agency Ongoing story
  • The AfD won about 44.2% in Saxony-Anhalt projections, giving regional leader Ulrich Siegmund a central role in government negotiations.
  • The party fell short of an absolute majority, while the BSW’s result could determine whether it enters parliament and becomes pivotal in forming a government.
  • The CDU, led nationally by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, fell to about 18%, roughly half its previous result, according to projections.

The AfD has won a sweeping victory in Saxony-Anhalt, taking about 44.2% of the vote in election-night projections and putting regional leader Ulrich Siegmund at the center of a new political balance in the eastern German state.

Siegmund, 35, had hoped to form an AfD-only government. But the result did not give the party an absolute majority. “I do not yet know whether I will be minister-president, but we have already made history,” he told supporters after the first projections were released.

I do not yet know whether I will be minister-president, but we have already made history.

· Ulrich SiegmundThe AfD candidate spoke to supporters after the first election projections.

The key to forming the next state government could lie with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, or BSW. ARD estimates put the party at about 5.1%, while a ZDF projection gave it 4.8%, just below the 5% threshold required for parliamentary representation. Sahra Wagenknecht, a former leader of the Left and a critic of military aid to Ukraine, has already extended an offer to Siegmund.

If the BSW enters the regional parliament, it could become the arbiter of negotiations. That would create an unprecedented constellation and could lead to the first state government headed by the far right.

They are the strongest party. We have to face the situation. This is democracy: people turned out to vote in large numbers, more than ever before.

· Sven SchulzeThe outgoing governor acknowledged the CDU’s defeat.

The result also dealt a severe blow to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats. The CDU was projected to win about 18%, roughly half its previous result, leaving it far behind the AfD. At the party’s election gathering in Magdeburg, outgoing governor Sven Schulze acknowledged the defeat. “They are the strongest party. We have to face the situation. This is democracy: people turned out to vote in large numbers, more than ever before,” he said.

The result has reopened debate within the CDU over the future of the Brandmauer, the firewall against cooperation with the AfD. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said her party could imagine “cooperation with the CDU or with parts of the CDU.”

Cooperation with the CDU or with parts of the CDU.

· Alice WeidelThe AfD co-leader described a possible relationship with the CDU after the election.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. 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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