Merz says AfD election victory has shaken CDU to its foundations

The Alternative for Germany’s victory in Saxony-Anhalt has prompted a stark warning from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who reportedly told CDU leaders that the result had shaken his party to its foundations.

According to Bild, Merz said neither he nor the government could continue as before. “This is shaking our party to its foundations. We simply cannot continue as before, neither me nor the government,” he reportedly told the CDU’s federal executive board.

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This is shaking our party to its foundations. We simply cannot continue as before, neither me nor the government.

The AfD emerged as the largest party in Sunday’s state election with 43.8% of the vote, an increase of 23 percentage points from 2021. The conservative CDU came second with 17.2%, compared with 37.1% in the previous election.

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A signal to Berlin.

AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund said the voters had sent “a signal to Berlin,” referring to the federal government led by the CDU. Although the party failed to win an absolute majority, Siegmund said it would try to form a government with support from other parties or individual politicians. “It is a very clear mandate to govern. It could hardly be clearer,” he said, according to AFP.

No far-right party has led a government in Germany since the Second World War. The AfD has been classified as a right-wing extremist organization by Germany’s domestic intelligence service in Saxony-Anhalt and four other states. Other parties have so far rejected cooperation with the AfD, a policy commonly known as the firewall. Bild reported that Merz repeated during the CDU meeting that his party could not work with the AfD.

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It is a very clear mandate to govern. It could hardly be clearer.