The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has secured a historic regional election victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, in a blow for German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
With 100 per cent of the vote counted, preliminary results showed the party had fallen short of an outright majority. It has nonetheless won a mandate to govern the state, securing a convincing victory with 43.8 per cent of the vote.
The conservative CDU came second with 17.2 per cent of votes, according to the state election commission’s website.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s leader in the state, called their win “sensational”, adding that they would like to form a state government as soon as possible.
Tino Chrupalla, the national leader of the AfD, claimed that the outcome showed voters were unhappy with the policies of the governing coalition.
The mainstream parties “were voted out, or rather, the voters delivered a clear verdict, and I can only encourage them to recognise that the ‘firewall’ has been definitively rejected by the voters today,” Mr Chrupalla told broadcaster ARD, referring to a strategy of non-cooperation between mainstream parties and the far-right.
Mr Merz has not yet issued a statement on the results.
It remains unclear whether the party will be able to form its first regional government, in what would be a seismic moment in post-war German history. The moment was described by political commentators as a watershed, with Das Erste TV channel cancelling its popular crime drama Tatort to focus on the outcome.
US president Donald Trump also posted a screengrab of the projected result on his Truth Social platform, without offering any additional comments. That was followed by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who posted a screengrab of Trump’s post and called it a “historic win for the pragmatic AfD”.
The party’s victory in the election for the state government represents a historic shift in German politics after years of cooperation between the other parties to keep the hard right out of power.
Most parties have ruled out joining an AfD-led coalition, meaning the makeup of the next government will depend on which other parties pass the 5 per cent threshold needed to gain seats in the regional parliament and whether the CDU could form a majority coalition to block the AfD.
The AfD seeks to restrict immigration, quit the Euro and restore ties with Russia as most of Europe rallies around Ukraine. Germany’s own intelligence service has designated the party as “extremist right wing”.
Mr Siegmund, lead candidate for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, said that he was open to working with partners following the preliminary results, adding: “We extend a hand to all democratic forces that wish to pursue better policies”. But he also said that topics including migration and domestic security were non-negotiable.
This win is the biggest prize in the party’s 13-year history, at a time of widespread discontent with an unpopular national government that has yet to persuade voters it can get the country’s sluggish economy moving.
Victory for the AfD is also a symbolic blow to Mr Merz, whose centre-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years.
A CDU politician has described his party's performance as a "historic defeat" and called it a "black day".
Sepp Muller, deputy leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told German broadcaster ZDF that there can now be "no business as usual".
The AfD national co-leaders, Alice Weidel and Mr Chrupalla, said this week that AfD “wants to implement the law of the land – for example with a view to illegal migration – and ensure that Germany remains worth living in”.
They decried other parties’ records and argued in a statement that an absolute majority for AfD is “almost the only chance to change course”.
Following the poll results on Sunday, Ms Weidel said that the AfD had a clear government mandate and would talk to all parties.
“No matter the outcome of tomorrow’s election, we have already made history,” said Mr Siegmund at a final rally on Saturday evening.
“Because what we have started here in Saxony-Anhalt – that is currently sweeping across all of Germany – can no longer be stopped,” he told the crowd in the state capital, Magdeburg.
The AfD plans to push schools and cultural institutions towards more traditional values, curb immigration and overhaul public broadcasting.
Mr Siegmund arrived to cast his vote in his hometown of Tangermünde on a blue Simson moped, greeted by throngs of excited fans, and ruled out coalition talks with other parties.
An AfD-led state would launch a crackdown on migration with a task force set up to coordinate quicker deportations.
The children of refugees would be placed in separate classes at school to prevent what the party claims are “stresses” on the other children from being around different cultures.
Meanwhile, children with disabilities would no longer be taught in the same classroom as those without, instead being sent to special schools.
Schools would also be banned from flying rainbow flags, and the government would exhaust “all legal avenues” to limit Islamic expression.
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