The co-leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, celebrated on Sunday, September 6, the "historic" result achieved in the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, estimated at approximately 44%, calling it "a clear mandate to govern." Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's regional leader, reiterated this argument and announced his intention to contact all political parties to implement changes, although he assured that the party would not compromise on its values to attain power.
According to projections released by the public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, the AfD won between 39 and 41 seats in the regional parliament, below the 42 needed for an absolute majority. If the AfD manages to form a government, this eastern German federal state will be the first region to be governed by this party since World War II. However, the other parties reject any collaboration with the AfD, applying the mechanism known as the "firewall."
Behind the AfD came the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with 18.5% of the votes, followed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), The Left, and The Greens, each with approximately 9%. The left-wing populist BSW movement achieved 5%, the minimum threshold to enter parliament, while the liberal FDP was left out, with only 2% to 3%.
This is not the first time the AfD has won state elections, having come out ahead in Thuringia in September 2024 with approximately 30.5% of the votes, but it did not take power in that region because no political force agreed to form coalitions. The voter turnout in the Saxony-Anhalt elections reached 80%, significantly higher than the 60.3% in the last regional elections.
