Germany’s Far-Right AfD Wins 44% in State Election, but Majority and Power Remain Uncertain

The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has won a historic 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt, but its path to governing remains uncertain. The party secured 39 of the state parliament’s 83 seats, three short of the 42 needed for a majority.

The result was unusually one-sided for a German state election. The center-right Christian Democratic Union won 17.2%, while the Social Democrats took 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%. Each of those parties won eight seats. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, a left-wing populist party, received 5.3% and won five seats.

AfD state premier candidate Ulrich Siegmund declared, “We made history. We are taking our country back.” Co-leader Alice Weidel said the party had received “a very clear mandate to govern.” The result came in Saxony-Anhalt, a former East German state with about 2.3 million residents. The state is considered a core base for the AfD and a barometer of opinion in eastern Germany. Turnout reached a record 78%, and analysts said the party drew support from first-time voters as well as its established base.

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We made history. We are taking our country back.

The AfD could cross the majority threshold by forming an alliance with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, but that party has proposed an independent premier who would exclude both AfD and CDU candidates. Other parties have rejected coalition or parliamentary cooperation with the AfD. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also ruled out direct cooperation and indirect support through abstention.

One alternative would involve the CDU forming an anti-AfD coalition with the Social Democrats, Greens, Left Party and Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance. That arrangement would itself be unstable, as many in the CDU view cooperation with the Left Party as another compromise with extremism. Under the state constitution, the new parliament must meet within 30 days, but no deadline applies to electing a premier. If the vote is delayed indefinitely, outgoing premier Sven Schulze would remain in a caretaker role. The next weeks of coalition negotiations will determine whether Germany’s political firewall holds or develops a breach.

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A very clear mandate to govern.