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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

Saxony-Anhalt AfD victory prompts calls for a course correction

From Die Zeit · () German

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

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Politicians in Saxony are calling for a change in federal policy after the AfD won decisively in Saxony-Anhalt.
  • Saxony Premier Michael Kretschmer described the CDU’s performance as disastrous and cited migration, security, energy prices, the economy and jobs as voters’ concerns.
  • The conservative Heimatunion group urged Kretschmer to end Saxony’s coalition with the SPD and form a minority government, while AfD and SPD politicians offered differing responses to the result.

The AfD’s clear victory in Saxony-Anhalt has triggered demands in neighboring Saxony for a change of course in Berlin. Politicians across the state are warning that the result cannot simply be followed by a return to business as usual.

that we do not return to business as usual in one or two weeks, but finally start looking at what moves people and why they vote the way they do

· Michael KretschmerThe Saxony premier called for politicians to examine the reasons behind the AfD’s election victory.

Saxony’s Minister-President Michael Kretschmer said on election night that politicians needed to examine what was moving voters and why they were choosing the AfD. In interviews with the Leipziger Volkszeitung and Sächsische Zeitung, he called his party’s result “disastrous.”

Kretschmer said voters expected solutions on migration and security, energy prices, the economy and jobs, as well as a state that functions. The CDU, he added, could not achieve the necessary shift on its own. He called for broad agreement across party lines and warned that “conviction cannot replace action.”

The people expect solutions on migration and security, on energy prices, the economy and jobs, and a state that functions.

· Michael KretschmerKretschmer described the issues he said voters wanted politicians to address.

The conservative Heimatunion within Saxony’s CDU is demanding consequences in the state itself. It called on Kretschmer to end the coalition with the SPD and abolish the state parliament’s consultation mechanism, arguing for an “honest minority government” with a maximum of “pure CDU” politics and fewer compromises with left-wing parties. The group said voters were deeply dissatisfied with CDU policy and has repeatedly questioned the firewall against cooperation with the AfD.

Conviction cannot replace action.

· Michael KretschmerKretschmer argued that the CDU needed concrete policy changes and broader political agreement.

Saxony AfD leader Jörg Urban said an AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt could now demonstrate whether it could deliver reform and citizen-focused politics. “If I really am a democrat, I accept the voters’ will and finally let the AfD show whether it can do it or not,” he said. SPD Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping called the result a wake-up call for federal politics. She said the parties of the political center were facing a deep crisis of trust after a party she described as partly far-right became the strongest force in a German state.

If I really am a democrat, I accept the voters’ will and finally let the AfD show whether it can do it or not.

· Jörg UrbanThe Saxony AfD leader argued that the party should be allowed to demonstrate its ability to govern.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. 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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