Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) celebrated Monday a historic victory in regional elections, gaining approximately 33% of the vote in Thuringia, marking the first time the party has topped the polls in a former East German state.
This significant win sends a strong message to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government a year before the national elections. The AfD also secured second place in neighboring Saxony.
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla stated the party's readiness to engage with all parties, insisting that "no politics" could proceed without the AfD. However, the prospect of forming a government in Thuringia remains challenging, as other parties have consistently ruled out collaboration with the AfD.
Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) narrowly outpaced the AfD in Saxony with 32% of the vote. CDU's lead candidate, Mario Voigt, called for a "reasonable government" in Thuringia under CDU leadership.
Meanwhile, Bjoern Hoecke, the controversial local leader of the AfD in Thuringia, declared his party the "people's party," emphasizing the need for change that only the AfD could deliver. However, his divisive stance, including recent fines for using banned Nazi slogans, complicates coalition possibilities.
Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the far-left Buendnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), reiterated her party's refusal to collaborate with Hoecke and the AfD despite BSW's potential role in any future coalition.
The regional election results reflect political divisions and pose challenges for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government. Scholz's Social Democrats saw a decline, receiving around 7% in Saxony and 6% in Thuringia, while coalition partners, the FDP and the Greens, struggled to meet the electoral threshold.
The elections were influenced by a contentious debate on immigration, exacerbated by a recent knife attack in Solingen, which opposition parties used to criticize the government's border policies.
The government has responded by proposing stricter knife controls and measures against illegal migrants. Founded as an anti-euro party in 2013, the AfD has become a prominent anti-immigration force, gaining traction amidst public discontent with the current administration.
Political divisions and the complicated electoral maths mean "forming a government will be difficult" after the two regional elections, said Marianne Kneuer, a professor of politics at the Dresden University of Technology.
Besides delivering an "alarming" win for the AfD, the election result was a "big slap for the entire government and Olaf Scholz," Kneuer said.
Scholz's Social Democrats recorded meek results, scoring around seven percent in Saxony and falling to six percent in Thuringia.
The chancellor's partners in a fractious coalition – the liberal FDP and the Greens – struggled even more.
The FDP fell below the five-percent threshold for seats in both elections, while in Saxony the Greens only scraped in.
The results were "nothing to celebrate", Social Democrats party chair Lars Klingbeil said, adding that the party had to be "better".
"We have to take care of people's everyday concerns," Klingbeil said.
