Saxony-Anhalt Election: AfD Invites All Parties to Exploratory Talks

Saxony-Anhalt’s AfD is inviting every party represented in the state parliament to exploratory talks after winning the state election without securing an absolute majority.

“We will send every party represented in the state parliament a letter inviting them to exploratory talks,” Tobias Rausch, parliamentary manager of the AfD’s state parliamentary group, said on the MDR program Fakt ist. He added that the party was prepared to compromise on some issues because it did not hold an absolute majority.

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We will send every party represented in the state parliament a letter inviting them to exploratory talks.

Rausch named the CDU and the BSW as possible discussion partners. Both parties, however, have already ruled out a coalition with the AfD, which the state constitutional protection agency classifies as definitively far-right.

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We are, of course, prepared to compromise on certain matters because we do not have an absolute majority.

BSW lead candidate Claudia Wittig again rejected cooperation in government with the AfD. “We have always said that we will not enter a coalition. We want government with changing majorities,” she said. The aim, she added, was to find majorities for individual projects.

The AfD won 43.8% of Sunday’s vote, putting it clearly ahead of the other parties but short of the majority needed to govern alone. Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund is therefore courting individual lawmakers and parliamentary groups in an effort to secure a stable majority. Whether the result will produce an AfD minority government remains open.

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We have always said that we will not enter a coalition. We want government with changing majorities.