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Published On ۶ Sep ۲۰۲۶
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won the Saxony-Anhalt elections in Germany’s east, according to exit polls, becoming the first far-right party to take power at a state level since World War II.
The AfD won ۴۴.۵ percent of the vote, the ARD broadcaster’s exit polls suggested on Sunday, more than double of the incumbent centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), with ۱۸.۵ percent, who are led by current German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve,” said AfD’s lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund, ۳۵, after exit poll results came in. “We have made history in this state.”
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel also hailed a “historic” result, which has given the far-right party a clear mandate to govern, though it was not immediately clear whether it would be able to form a government.
“The reality is the AfD has got the lion’s share of the votes in this election, according to the exit polls. But the question is: is it enough to get them control of the state? Right now, we cannot say for sure,” Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane said from Magdeburg, eastern Germany.
The exit polls suggest the party has narrowly missed securing an absolute majority in the state partliament in Magdeburg.
Siegmund said he wanted to extend a hand to all parties willing to bring about a fundamental political transformation in the state. However, the AfD will not bend to other parties’ will, he stressed.
The AfD has never participated in a ruling coalition in Germany’s ۱۶ states or its federal government, as all other mainstream parties refuse to work with it, a policy infamously known as the “firewall”.
Sunday’s result is another blow to the authority of Merz, whose popularity has fallen as his coalition government struggles to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy.
