Ulrich Siegmund, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)'s main candidate in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, gestures as he addresses supporters at the AfD's election party following Saxony-Anhalt's state elections in Magdeburg, eastern Germany on September 6, 2026. Germany's far-right AfD won a landslide victory in a key regional election on September 6 in the ex-communist east, according to exit polls, but it remain unclear whether it can win an absolute majority to govern. (AFP Photo)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz huddled on Sept. 7 with his CDU party to discuss and digest a thumping defeat at the hands of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a state election in the ex-communist east.
The anti-immigration AfD scored its biggest win yet on Sept. 6 with 44 percent of the vote in the Saxony-Anhalt, against about 18 percent for the center-right CDU, according to broadcasters’ projections.
The visibly dejected CDU state premier Sven Schulze said his campaign was not always helped by national government policies, saying that “we often faced headwinds, and that wasn’t always easy.”
The ballot box triumph put the pro-Trump and Moscow-friendly AfD, officially listed as “right-wing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, within reach of running its first-ever state government.
However, it appeared to have fallen just short of an absolute majority, setting the stage for lengthy haggling before a new government is formed in the state assembly in Magdeburg.
Nonetheless, the result sent shock waves through Germany, which in the post-war era had so far managed to keep extremist parties at bay.
“For the first time since the end of World War II, the AfD, a party whose state branch is classified as right-wing extremist, is close to securing an absolute majority,” said Daniel Guenther, the CDU premier of Schleswig-Holstein state. “This is a shocking moment for our country.”
For Merz, who watched the results come in from Berlin party headquarters late Sept. 6, but did not speak in public, the result is another blow at a time when his approval ratings have dipped sharply.
The AfD’s triumphant lead candidate in the state election, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, took pleasure in mocking 70-year-old Merz, calling him “a very good campaigner” for the AfD.
Siegmund said his party had “made history” and that voters had sent “a signal to Berlin.” Every day with Merz in the chancellery was “one day too many,” he added.
AfD national co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla urged the state branch to seek to take over the government, viewing it as a blueprint for national elections in 2029.
According to projections by German public broadcasters, the AfD fell just three seats short of an absolute majority of 42 seats in the regional parliament.
In the other camp, but also without a clear majority, is a grouping of parties opposed to the AfD, the CDU, center-left SPD, Greens and the far-left Die Linke.
One option would be for the tiny BSW, a leftist party that veers hard-right on immigration, to act as kingmaker, provided it manages to cross the five-percent hurdle to enter parliament.
The AfD could also try to poach lawmakers from other parties who might want to defect and join its ranks.
Siegmund said his party stood ready to “extend a hand to all forces that want to bring about a fundamental political shift with us.”
Political scientist Oliver Lembcke of Ruhr University Bochum said that the election result is “more than a severe electoral defeat for the CDU.”
“We are witnessing a tectonic shift in the party system,” he said.
“A protest and opposition party is transforming, at least in parts of east Germany, into a party with a realistic prospect of holding power.”
