AfD Wins 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt Election, Falls Three Seats Short of Majority

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 43.8% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt’s September 6 regional election, leaving it with 39 seats in an 83-seat regional parliament and three seats short of an absolute majority.

“The AfD won 43.8 per cent of the vote in the September 6 regional election”

Brussels Signal

In Italy, the result exposed a divide inside Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, with Matteo Salvini’s League openly celebrating the AfD’s success and describing it as a “stunning success,” reflecting voters’ desire for “change, security and work”.

21News

Sven Schulze’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) dropped to 17.2% in Saxony-Anhalt, and the BBC said the AfD’s win meant “Tricky negotiations on who will run the state lie ahead.”B

The BBC also quoted AfD state leader Ulrich Siegmund saying it was “sensational” and that the party had won a mandate to govern, while noting no far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two.B

As negotiations loomed, the BBC reported that AfD’s Beatrix von Storch said the party intended to hold talks to secure support from members of parliament from other parties, including individuals within the CDU group in the state parliament “because they're very, very unhappy with their own party”.B

The BBC also described how AfD supporters and opponents framed the result differently, with one AfD voter telling the BBC, “This is a party for the working people. BIt is the alternative for Germany,” while Lars Klingbeil called the outcome a “signal to Berlin.”

BBC

In Spain, the far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal called the Saxony-Anhalt result a “great hope for Germany and for Europe,” and in Poland Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said “in Poland only idiots and traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD”.

The institutional arithmetic remained central to the debate, with the AfD heading for 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament and the BSW set to win five seats, leaving the question of whether any coalition could form around Ulrich Siegmund’s bid to govern.

Beyond Saxony-Anhalt, the sources tied the vote to potential spillover across Europe, with the BBC noting that governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture, and with the Diari ARA framing the result as a possible first far-right return to power since Nazism if the AfD could secure support.

“It's a signal for the whole of Germany - a self-confident signal”

BBC

The Diari ARA also pointed to a wider European timeline, saying the good results for the AfD in this region could be repeated on September 20 in the state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which would place the federal government led by Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz in an even more difficult position.

In France, Economy Minister Roland Lescure called the prospect of far-right governing in Germany a “very, very concerning signal,” while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski described the result as a “very worrying sign.”

For the German parties themselves, the BBC said AfD’s charismatic leader Ulrich Siegmund told supporters “This isn't just about Saxony-Anhalt,” adding “It's a signal for the whole of Germany - a self-confident signal,” as turnout reached 77.8% and the CDU’s vote slump set up the next round of coalition bargaining.B