World
Archived — This article has been archived. The information may be outdated.
AfD takes 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt election
BBC News··7 Sept
Germany's Alternative for Germany won 43.8 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, preliminary results showed, three seats short of a majority. Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the result seismic as his CDU fell to 17.2 percent. AfD deputy Beatrix von Storch urged other parties to open talks. No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two.
Prism
What It Means For You
- State government in Saxony-Anhalt covers powers including policing and local education.
- Talks on forming a government could take days or weeks, AfD's Ulrich Siegmund said.
- Most major parties still refuse formal cooperation with the AfD.
What's Happening
- The AfD is heading for 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament, short of the 42 needed for a majority.
- Defeated CDU premier Sven Schulze said the mandate to govern now lies with the AfD.
- Siegmund said consultations with other parties or individual MPs began on Sunday night.
The Firewall Hold
- Saxony-Anhalt has about 2.1 million people.
- Germany's domestic intelligence assesses the state's AfD branch as right-wing extremist, a label Siegmund rejects.
- NDTV said projections put AfD support near 44 percent, more than double its prior level.
all-news
