Germany’s populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has won the Thuringia state election (Landtagswahl) with 32,8 percent of the vote, a historic win for the far right in postwar Germany.

AfD sees success in Thuringia and Saxony state elections

On Sunday, state elections in two eastern German federal states saw historic successes for the AfD.

In Thuringia, the party won 32,8 percent of the vote, coming top of the polls. In Saxony, the party took 30,6 percent, second only to the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 31,9 percent.

While results from all constituencies in both states have now been declared, Saxony’s electoral officer announced on Monday morning that the state’s provisional result must be corrected due to an initial software issue, according to Tagesschau. 

The correction means that the Greens and SPD - members of Germany’s ruling traffic light coalition, which have both seen losses in the state elections - each have one more seat, while the AfD and CDU each have one seat fewer than previously declared.

For the much-awaited elections - a temperature check following AfD's success in June’s European elections - turnout was high at around 74 percent in both states.

Efforts to entice younger voters were also successful, with 38 percent of voters in Thuringia aged 18 to 24 voting AfD. The party has long used TikTok as a means to reach the younger electorate. 

What will happen now?

In Thuringia and Saxony, the AfD’s campaigns have centred around stricter immigration and asylum policies, alongside ending weapons provisions for Ukraine.

The win in Thuringia was led by co-leaders Björn Höcke and Stefan Möller. Höcke, a particularly divisive figure in German politics who has been fined for repeatedly using Nazi slogans at rallies, aimed to win the AfD one-third of the votes, so that it could achieve a “blocking minority” to block policies that require a two-thirds majority to pass in the Bundestag and form a state government. 

But the party narrowly missed this goal and given that all other parties, including the left-wing populist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and the CDU, have said they will not join a coalition with the AfD, questions remain about which kind of government will be formed in Thuringia.

If the CDU is to form a coalition it would have to do so with the support of parties on the left, such as BSW, The Left, Olaf Scholz’s SPD or the Greens.

In Saxony, there is a discussion of a “Kenya coalition” between the CDU, SPD and Greens, so-called because the coalition’s colours would reflect the African country’s flag. 

“We are entering into open-ended talks,” incumbent State Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) said on Monday morning.

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