Germany’s attention turns to Saxony-Anhalt

Germany’s attention is focused on Saxony-Anhalt, where voters are choosing a new state parliament in an election that could have implications beyond the region.

The state has about 2.8 million residents, and nearly 1.69 million voters are expected to take part. The latest polling places the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, well ahead of its rivals. A poll conducted from September 1 to 3 by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen for German public broadcaster ZDF projected the AfD at 42 percent, followed by the Christian Democratic Union at 23 percent, the Left at 11.5 percent, the Social Democratic Party at 8.5 percent and the Greens at 6 percent.

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance was projected at 4 percent, while the Free Democratic Party was forecast at 3 percent, leaving both below the 5 percent threshold. In the previous state election, held on June 6, 2021, the CDU won 37.1 percent, the AfD 20.8 percent, the Left 11 percent, the SPD 8.4 percent, the FDP 6.4 percent and the Greens 5.9 percent.

AfD candidate for state premier Ulrich Siegmund has said, “If we do not achieve an absolute majority, we will not seek power.” However, a scenario involving outside support from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance or some CDU lawmakers remains possible, the article says.

An AfD-led government would represent the first far-right government in the Federal Republic of Germany, formally established after the Basic Law was adopted on May 23, 1949. The party’s continuing gains could also make it a genuine governing alternative in Germany’s 2029 federal election.

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If we do not achieve an absolute majority, we will not seek power.