State Election Poll: Many Oppose AfD Government with Other Parties

The AfD won Saxony-Anhalt’s state election by a wide margin, but nearly half of people in Germany do not want it to form the state government with help from other parties, according to a representative YouGov poll.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said the AfD should “under no circumstances” form a government with support from other parties, while 11% answered “probably not.” By contrast, 20% said the AfD should “definitely” govern with support from other parties, and 18% said “probably yes.”

The AfD received 43.8% in the preliminary result, but that is not enough for a government controlled by the party alone. The CDU won 17.2%. The Left, Greens and Social Democrats each took about 9%, while the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance narrowly entered the state parliament with just over 5%. It remains unclear who will govern the state.

The poll also showed disagreement over the CDU’s so-called firewall against the AfD. Twenty-four percent considered the CDU’s general refusal to cooperate with the AfD entirely wrong, and 16% considered it rather wrong. Thirty-one percent considered the position entirely right, while 15% considered it rather right.

Views were similarly divided over the CDU’s refusal to work with Die Linke, although opposition was slightly stronger. Forty-one percent said that position was entirely or rather wrong, while 39% considered it right. YouGov surveyed 1,862 people aged 18 and over in Germany on September 7. The results were described as representative of the adult population.