MAGDEBURG, Sept. 8 — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic victory in Sunday’s Saxony-Anhalt state election, capturing 43.8% of the vote and 39 seats in the 83-member state parliament — just three seats shy of the absolute majority needed to form Germany’s first far-right-led state government since World War II.
The preliminary official results, released late Sunday by the state election authority, show the AfD more than doubling its support from the 2021 election. The party’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, won his constituency in Genthin and declared: “We have made history.” He insisted the result gives the AfD a clear mandate to govern and vowed to pursue coalition talks with all other parties and individual lawmakers to assemble a governing majority.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which led the previous state coalition, collapsed to 17.2% and 15 seats — losing roughly half its vote share from five years ago. The Social Democrats (SPD) fell to 9.3% (8 seats), the Greens to 8.9% (8 seats), and the Left Party to 8.6% (8 seats). The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new Russia-friendly, anti-immigration party, entered parliament with 5.3% and 5 seats, potentially holding the balance of power.
The outcome represents the severest test yet of Germany’s long-standing Brandmauer (firewall) — the cross-party refusal of mainstream parties to cooperate with the far right at any level of government. All established parties have repeatedly pledged to maintain this firewall, but the AfD’s commanding lead and the fragmented opposition arithmetic have thrown Saxony-Anhalt into profound political uncertainty.
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla called the result a “political earthquake” and demanded that other parties “respect the will of the voters.” However, CDU state chairman Sven Schulze reiterated that his party would not enter any coalition with the AfD, calling the firewall “non-negotiable.”
Political analysts noted that the BSW’s entry could complicate coalition-building further. While the AfD and BSW share a Russia-friendly foreign policy stance and opposition to immigration, they diverge on economic and social issues. A minority government led by the AfD — without formal coalition partners — remains legally possible but would face constant parliamentary instability.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s federal CDU government suffered a significant setback, with the Saxony-Anhalt result widely seen as a referendum on federal migration and economic policies. The AfD’s breakthrough in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt — a former GDR stronghold — marks a consolidation of its dominance in the traditional East German heartland rather than a westward expansion.
The state parliament must convene within 30 days. Until a new government is formed, the outgoing CDU-led caretaker administration remains in office.