German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was facing a tough situation Monday after his party was crushed by the Alternative for Germany party in a regional election that could result in it leading the first far-right state government since the Nazi era.
The AfD, classified by the domestic intelligence agency as an extremist group, fell just short of a majority in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
But tricky coalition talks lie ahead, and the AfD candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, still aims to become the first head of government from the far-right party on the state level.
“Very clearly, we want voters finally to get after the election what they voted for,” Siegmund told public broadcaster ZDF late Sunday. “Over 44% voted for political change … and that must be implemented after the election.”
The vote weakens the chancellor and he will be partly held responsible for his party’s historic loss after it lead the state for the past 24 years. Merz’s centre-right Christian Democrats party, or CDU, saw its election results cut in half, while AfD more than doubled its share of the vote. The result could also energize the AfD in other state elections later this month.
Merz is expected to comment on the election result later Monday after meetings of his party and government leaders.
AfD, known for its pro-Russian and radical anti-immigration stance, is the biggest opposition party in Germany’s national parliament and is strongest in the formerly communist and less prosperous east, where Saxony-Anhalt is located.
Tricky coalition talks in the state are expected in the days and possibly weeks ahead.
Leading a state government would be the biggest prize for AfD in its 13-year history, coming at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country’s sluggish economy moving.
While Siegmund has rejected an AfD minority government, his party could possibly govern with the hard-left BSW party — the two parties share a Russia-friendly course and oppose immigration but do not agree on some other subjects.
Forming a government that excludes the AfD would only be possible if all the other parties that were elected worked together — CDU, Social Democrats, the Greens, the Left Party, and the BSW. However, a coalition involving five partners would be extremely unusual, very complicated and hardly conceivable.
It’s also possible that newly elected lawmakers from other parties could defect to AfD — it would only need three people to get a majority to govern.
Either way, coalition negotiations are going to be complicated and likely it will take weeks to form a new government.
