Key facts
- AfD co-leader Alice Weidel stated the party will form the government in Saxony-Anhalt.
- Weidel expressed confidence the AfD could govern Saxony-Anhalt alone.
- A poll shows AfD leading with 41% support in Saxony-Anhalt, with the CDU at 24%.
- The AfD also leads national polls at 27%, ahead of the CDU/CSU bloc at 22%.
- Weidel reiterated calls for stricter immigration policies and Germany's exit from the Schengen Area.
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is positioning the upcoming state election in Saxony-Anhalt as a crucial step toward national power, according to co-leader Alice Weidel. Weidel expressed confidence that the AfD would not only win the September 6 election but also govern the state alone, a significant ambition given the party's current exclusion from all state and federal governments due to other parties' refusal to cooperate.
Recent polling indicates strong support for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, with 41% of voters backing the party, well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU), who poll at 24%. Nationally, the AfD also leads in voting intention polls with 27%, compared to 22% for the CDU/CSU bloc. Weidel argued that the CDU's adherence to a 'firewall' policy, refusing cooperation with the AfD, is weakening the conservatives and will ultimately pave the way for her party to govern.
The AfD's platform includes calls for a more stringent immigration policy and a withdrawal from the European passport-free travel system to enhance border security. Saxony-Anhalt is the first of three state elections in September, with Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania voting later in the month. Meanwhile, Chancellor Merz is also pushing his cabinet to accelerate pro-growth reforms for businesses, focusing on taxes, pensions, deregulation, and digitalization to stimulate economic expansion.