Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has secured a commanding lead in the Saxony-Anhalt regional election, taking about 44.5 per cent of the vote according to exit polls and early projections from public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
The result places the AfD more than 25 percentage points ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which was projected to win 18.5 per cent. Die Linke was on 9.5 per cent, while the Social Democrats were forecast to take 8 per cent.
The vote represents more than double the AfD’s share in Saxony-Anhalt at the previous election five years ago. The eastern state, with a population of about 2.1 million, has emerged as the party’s strongest opportunity yet to lead a German state government.
However, it remained unclear whether the AfD’s performance would be enough to secure an outright majority in the state parliament. Its ability to form a government could depend on whether smaller parties cross the five per cent threshold required to win seats.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD’s lead candidate, said the result showed that voters wanted political change and described the outcome as making history. The party had campaigned for the right to govern Saxony-Anhalt alone.
The projected result is a major setback for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, which has led the state for 24 years. Sven Schulze, the state’s minister-president and CDU candidate, congratulated the AfD on becoming the strongest political force.
National AfD co-leader Alice Weidel called the result “sensational” and said it represented a clear mandate to govern. Mainstream parties have repeatedly ruled out co-operating with the AfD, a position commonly referred to in Germany as the “firewall”.
Turnout was reported to have reached about 80 per cent, substantially higher than the 60.3 per cent recorded in the 2021 election. The final result will determine whether the AfD can turn its historic electoral advance into Germany’s first far-right state government since the Second World War.
