Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has emerged as the clear winner of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, with exit polls predicting a historic result for the party.
Projections released after voting ended on Sunday put the AfD at 44.5 percent, more than double the 18.5 percent predicted for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The Left party (Linke) was projected to finish third with 9.5 percent, followed by the Greens with 9 percent and the Social Democrats with 8 percent.
If confirmed by the official count, the result would represent the AfD’s strongest performance in a German state election and a major political breakthrough for the extremist, anti-immigration party. It would also mark a dramatic reversal for the CDU, which has governed Saxony-Anhalt since 2002.
Despite its commanding lead, however, the AfD may have fallen short of securing enough seats to govern alone. The party’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, had set a target of at least 45 percent and said he would seek to become state premier only if the AfD won an absolute parliamentary majority.
The final distribution of seats will therefore determine whether the party can take control of the state government.
All other major parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD, maintaining Germany’s political “firewall” designed to prevent the far right from entering government. As a result, the AfD could remain excluded from power despite finishing far ahead of its rivals if it fails to win a majority.
The election was closely watched as a test of the AfD’s growing strength in eastern Germany and of public confidence in Merz’s federal government. The scale of the projected CDU defeat is expected to increase pressure on the chancellor and intensify debate within Germany’s established parties over how to respond to the AfD’s rise.
Turnout was projected at a record 76.5 percent, underlining the significance of the vote. Approximately 1.7 million people were eligible to cast ballots in Saxony-Anhalt, which has a population of about 2.1 million.
The AfD’s projected victory is also likely to deepen national divisions over immigration, economic policy and the continued political isolation of the party. Its Saxony-Anhalt branch has been classified as right-wing extremist by the state’s domestic intelligence agency.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
