Sven Schulze, the state's Christian Democratic Union premier, said Monday that his party would move into opposition. "We, the CDU, no longer have a mandate to govern. We are in the opposition. AfD has the mandate to govern", he said at a joint news conference with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who also leads the CDU.
Merz called the result a shock to his party and to himself personally, describing it as the CDU's "most severe defeat in decades". He said the outcome would have consequences and pledged reforms, while insisting Germany's state institutions remain stable and that he does not intend to give up.
The chancellor also reaffirmed that the federal government will continue backing Ukraine against Russia's invasion. "I want to say this clearly: 2,500 kilometers to the east of here, there are people who are exceptionally pleased with the outcome of this election", Merz said, referring to Russia.
AfD lawmakers from the Saxony-Anhalt state legislature have traveled to Russia in the past, including after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the party's campaign posters called for rebuilding the Nord Stream pipeline, which was destroyed in an explosion. Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the party's Saxony-Anhalt branch as right-wing extremist since 2023.
AfD fell short of an outright majority but is expected to seek support from individual lawmakers of other parties to form a government. Success would make it the first AfD-led state government in the party's history.
Commentators see ‘turning point’ for German Democracy
German newspapers described the result as historic, with several outlets calling it a final warning for Merz and the country's democratic center.
Berlin's Tagesspiegel said voters were not deterred by AfD candidates' extremist ties, past legal troubles or links to neo-Nazi circles, arguing the vote reflected raw emotion and a longing to upend the status quo rather than policy substance. The paper said centrist parties, particularly the CDU and SPD, must now earn back trust through action rather than nostalgia, adding that the political center still holds a majority in Germany.
Der Spiegel was more pointed, questioning whether Merz is the right leader for the moment and noting the AfD candidate won more than 44% of the vote despite surrounding himself with right-wing radicals and failing to distance himself from supporters who used Hitler salutes or attacked journalists. The magazine said Berlin's governing coalition needs a reset starting with Merz, and that the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, must reconsider his role in future campaigns.
Die Welt argued that "the era of the left is over", pointing out that left-leaning parties — the SPD, Greens and Left party — won a combined 30% of the vote, down from 60% in 1998. The paper urged Merz to pursue economic policies distinct from the left and called on the CDU to drop its refusal to engage with AfD on policy matters, while stopping short of endorsing a coalition, citing AfD's stance on Russia.
Die Zeit warned that German democracy has reached a turning point, noting AfD is leading national polls and that roughly a third of Saxony-Anhalt residents believe reforms are futile and a "system reset" is needed. Still, the paper noted six in ten voters did not back AfD, and said liberal democracy will only die "if the majority remains passive".
Who are AfD?
The nationalist, populist AfD calls for sharply curbing immigration, reducing the powers of European Union institutions and "normalizing" relations with Russia, including lifting sanctions and reviving the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the party's Saxony-Anhalt branch as right-wing extremist since 2023. Sunday's vote was widely viewed as a critical test of the so-called firewall, the practice by which Germany's mainstream parties have refused to govern with AfD.
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Source: PAP, Polish Radio