Saxony-Anhalt Votes: AfD Pushes for Historic State Breakthrough

Saxony-Anhalt votes could mark the first far-right state government in Germany since the end of World War II.

Voters in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, will cast ballots on Sunday in an election that could see the Alternative for Germany (AfD) achieve a historic breakthrough, potentially becoming the first far-right party to win state-level power since World War II.

Recent opinion polls put AfD support at roughly 40 percent, ahead of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) at 23 percent.

AfD has maintained a comfortable lead in polling for months, and could secure an absolute majority if smaller parties fail to surpass the five-percent threshold required for parliamentary entry. However, the outcome remains uncertain.

A coalition government led by the Christian Democrats under incumbent Premier Sven Schulze appears most likely should the AfD fall short of a majority.

Extended coalition negotiations may follow the vote, contingent on which parties cross the five-percent threshold.

AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund, a former CDU member, has predicted that securing an absolute majority would propel the anti-establishment party toward national victory in 2029. He has been dubbed “Germany’s most dangerous man” by the magazine Der Spiegel.

“It was the others who erected the firewalls,” he told German tabloid Bild. “If no one wants to work with us, then we’ll just have to do it alone.”

An absolute majority would enable the AfD to circumvent the mainstream parties’ “firewall” policy of noncooperation, a strategy the far-right grouping has already employed at the local level.

For the AfD, the Saxony-Anhalt vote serves as a strategic stepping stone toward its broader goal of securing national power in the 2029 federal elections.

The Christian Democrats are currently led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose tenure has been marked by low popular approval.

At a campaign rally in Lower Saxony last week, Merz called for more effective engagement with the AfD.

“We must address the issues at hand. We must also address our choice of words,” Merz said, referring to a statement by the AfD’s state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Martin Reichardt.

Reichardt previously told the AfD’s youth organisation that Germany had become “a lazy, anti-social bum reeking of dope”.

Thousands of demonstrators participated in a pro-democracy festival the night before the election, with organizers estimating attendance between 15,000 and 20,000.

Initial results are anticipated at approximately 16:00 GMT (6pm local time) on Sunday.

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