Could Germany See a Far-Right Party Take Power in a State Government for the First Time in 80 Years? AfD Scores Landslide Victory in Former East German State Election

[Financial News] The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a landslide victory with 44% of the vote in the state parliament election in eastern Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt. The result has raised the possibility that Germany could see a far-right state government for the first time in more than 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany.
According to the Saxony-Anhalt state election commission on the 7th, the AfD had secured 44.6% of the vote as of 11:10 p.m. that day, with 95% of the ballots counted in the election held on the 6th. It became the largest party, defeating the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which won 16.9%. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) had 9.1%, the Green Party 8.9%, and Die Linke 8.4%.
Even if the AfD fails to secure a majority and cannot form a government on its own, it could still take power by forming a coalition with smaller parties. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a radical-left party that has indicated it could cooperate with the AfD, has therefore emerged as a potential “kingmaker.”
Other parties, including the CDU, have maintained that they will not form coalition governments with far-right parties under the so-called “firewall” principle.

If the BSW surpasses the 5.0% threshold required for parliamentary representation, the AfD and BSW together could hold more than half the seats and form a coalition. As of 11:10 p.m., the BSW had received 5.2% of the vote. The BSW, regarded as a successor to the former East German communist party, shares the AfD’s tough stance on immigration and conciliatory policy toward Russia. It also opposes other parties’ firewall principle of refusing to cooperate with far-right parties.
AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said they were open to coalition negotiations.
The AfD’s vote share was more than double the 20.8% it received in the previous Saxony-Anhalt state parliament election in 2021. It was the party’s highest vote share since its founding in any state or federal parliamentary election. Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s candidate for state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, said, “We made history,” adding that the result “is also a signal to Berlin.”
Based on exit polls and partial results, public broadcaster ARD predicted that the AfD would win 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament, falling short of a majority. The total number of seats and their distribution among the parties may change depending on the final count.

The AfD pledged to deport illegal residents, require asylum seekers to work, reduce support for Ukrainian refugees, strengthen patriotic education by flying the German flag, and cut funding for public broadcasters. It also put forward potentially unconstitutional pledges, such as creating “voluntary citizen patrols” to maintain public order and separating students from refugee families into different classes.
At 35, Siegmund has emerged as a key AfD figure after leading the party’s surge in the election. The AfD is also leading nationwide in support. Once a CDU member, he is regarded as having won over younger voters through social media and older voters with his relatively polished and approachable appearance. Within the party, he has been praised as “everyone’s darling” and “the type mothers-in-law would love.”
Saxony-Anhalt has a population of 2.12 million and 1.69 million eligible voters, making it the sixth-smallest of Germany’s 16 states by population. The AfD has built its base in former East German regions such as Saxony-Anhalt, which lag economically behind the former West Germany and have smaller immigrant populations. Since its founding in 2013, the AfD, which advocates tougher immigration policies and a stronger German national identity, has produced several mayors of small municipalities but has never governed a state.
The turnout was provisionally recorded at 74.5%, the highest for a Saxony-Anhalt state parliament election since German reunification. Turnout was 60.3% in the 2021 state parliament election. A state parliament election is scheduled for the 20th of this month in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a former East German state where the AfD enjoys support of nearly 40%.
[email protected] International Affairs Specialist Lee Seok-woo Reporter