AfD projected to win Saxony-Anhalt election but majority remains uncertain
Exit polls put the far-right party well ahead of the CDU, but the final seat count will depend on smaller parties crossing the parliamentary threshold.
Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to win Saxony-Anhalt’s state election with between 44% and 44.5% of the vote, according to exit polls reported by BBC World. The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is projected to finish on 18.5%.
The result would represent a major advance for the AfD in the eastern German state, which has a population of about 2.1 million. The election was closely watched as a test of Germany’s political resistance to the far right.
The AfD has described the projection as a “historic outcome” and said it has a mandate to govern. Its state leader, Ulrich Siegmund, has refused to rule with another party.
Whether the AfD can govern alone is not yet clear. The final balance of seats will depend on which smaller parties enter the state parliament, with the party’s prospects of securing a majority affected by the 5% threshold.
State governments control areas including policing, local education and culture. No far-right party has controlled a German state since the Second World War.
Domestic intelligence classifies the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as “far-right extremist”, a description rejected by Siegmund. The exit polls are projections, and official results are still to come.
