The German far-right party AfD has taken a commanding lead in Sunday's Saxony-Anhalt vote, but could not secure enough seats to form a majority.
Final results showed AfD receiving 43.8% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago in the region of 2.1 million people west of Berlin. However, falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member parliament.
Meanwhile, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the party of Germany’s unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, with only 17.2% of the vote, and won 15 seats.
The centre-left Social Democrats got 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%, all winning 8 seats apiece.
“We have written history,” said Ulrich Siegmund, the anti-migration, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany’s candidate for governor, and added that the party now has a clear mandate to govern. The 35-year-old politician told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that “things cannot carry on like this.” He said that “a very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz.”
Turnout was very high at 77.8%. AfD appeared to have won over many people who didn’t vote at all five years ago.
The result could reshape political landscape
The result could significantly reshape the political landscape in eastern Germany, with the AfD emerging as by far the strongest force in the new state parliament.
Siegmund said AfD would not engage in “games” such as a minority government, although it wasn’t evident how its divided opponents could assemble any stable government without it.
A first state government would mark the biggest achievement in the anti-immigration party’s 13-year history, arriving amid widespread public frustration with a national government struggling to revive the country’s sluggish economy.
Whether or not the AfD ultimately takes power, the result delivers a setback to Friedrich Merz, whose centre-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years.
Unlike many of its European neighbours, modern Germany has yet to see a far-right or right-wing populist party head a national, state, or major city government.
The AfD is the largest opposition party in Germany’s federal parliament, drawing its strongest support from the less prosperous states of the former communist east, including Saxony-Anhalt.
Its regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt is among several designated as a proven right-wing extremist group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, which cites members' denigration of migrants from Muslim-majority nations, among other concerns.
The party frequently promotes "remigration"—a controversial term referring to the mass deportation of immigrants—while its leader in a neighbouring state appealed two convictions for knowingly using a Nazi slogan.
The AfD strongly rejects all allegations of extremism, maintaining that such labels are politically motivated.
Germany’s states have extensive powers
Germany’s 16 states wield extensive powers, particularly in managing internal security and running the education system.
Ulrich Siegmund has outlined his top priorities as launching "a deportation offensive" and eliminating incentives for migrants to come to Germany and "exploit our social system." He also aims to initiate the lengthy process of withdrawing Saxony-Anhalt from the regional public broadcasting network, citing concerns over "disinformation."
In education, the regional branch of the AfD advocates for permitting homeschooling, which remains illegal across Germany. The party pledges to prohibit schools from officially displaying the rainbow flag and to mandate the inclusion of the national flag.
Furthermore, the party opposes taxpayer funds being "given away" to Ukraine and promises to push for lifting sanctions against Russia, though foreign policy decisions fall strictly outside state jurisdiction.
The influence of Saxony-Anhalt—one of the smaller states in a country of 83.5 million people—remains limited, controlling just four of the 69 total votes.
