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Far-right AfD Expected to Win Saxony-Anhalt Election in Eastern Germany

Germany's far-right AfD party is expected to win the regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, a state in the former communist east.

By Staff Correspondent
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Germany's far-right AfD clear frontrunner in eastern state vote | International
BSS

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is poised to win the crucial regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, a state in the former communist east, with polls showing the party leading at over 40 percent. The AfD, which has been polling at this level for months, is now eyeing its first-ever state government, although this is far from assured. The small state is currently governed by the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz in coalition with two smaller parties.

The AfD's top candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, has confidently predicted gaining an absolute majority, stating, 'If no one wants to work with us, then we'll just have to do it alone.' Siegmund, a 35-year-old with a large social media following, has vowed to lead a political revolution from the state of 2.1 million people, aiming for national victory in 2029.

The AfD's key campaign promises include a'remigration and deportation offensive', a ban on LGBTQ pride rainbow flags at public schools, and an end to new wind farms. The party has also tapped into nostalgia for communist East Germany and resentment about the enduring wealth gap with the West. The prospect of an AfD state government has sparked alarm among mainstream parties and minority groups.

All other major parties have maintained a 'firewall' of non-cooperation with the AfD, whose Saxony-Anhalt branch is categorised as 'right-wing extremist' by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. Thousands of the AfD's opponents joined a 'festival of democracy' rally in Magdeburg on the eve of the vote. The German Economic Institute warned the AfD's immigration policy would be 'ruinous' for the state, whose population is already ageing and shrinking and highly reliant on foreign-born workers.

Others have voiced fears that an AfD-run state security apparatus could leak sensitive information to Russia. The Kremlin 'makes no secret of the fact that the AfD is the most important instrument for destabilising Germany for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,' Thuringia state interior minister Georg Maier told the Handelsblatt daily. The latest poll, released by public broadcaster ZDF, gave the AfD a commanding lead of 41 percent, with the CDU at 23 percent, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) at 8.5 percent, and the Greens at six percent.

Source: BSS

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