“We are ready to govern” –

“We are ready to govern.” The controversial leader of the AfD in Thuringia, Bjorn Hoecke, said this shortly after the polls closed, following the clear success of the far-right German party in the regional elections which, according to projections by the broadcaster ZDF, see Alternative fuer Deutschland as the leading party. A success corroborated by the results obtained in Saxony, the second eastern state where the vote for the regional parliament took place, where the AfD, again according to projections, is neck and neck with the Christian Democrats of the CDU.

In both states, the AfD is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a proven far-right organization. This did not prevent the party led by Hoecke, who has been tried several times on charges of using Nazi slogans, from obtaining over 33% of the vote and confirming its position as the first extremist party to lead a state since the post-war period. The other parties in Thuringia are clearly distanced, with the CDU, again according to projections, second at 23.8%. The real exploit is that of the populists, exiled from the left, of the new party of the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance, third with 15.5%, ahead of the Linke of the outgoing governor, Bodo Ramelow, which collapses to 11.9% and records a -19.6% compared to the previous elections. According to projections, in Saxony the CDU is holding with 31.5% (-0.4%), but is strongly threatened by the AfD at 31.4% (+3.9%). In Saxony too, the ‘red-brown’ BSW confirmed its excellent debut, with 11.5%. The message coming from Thuringia and Saxony is confirmation of the difficulties of the three parties of the majority of the German government. The SPD of Chancellor Scholz, according to projections, obtains 6.5% (-1.7%) in Thuringia and 7.5% in Saxony (0.2%), but remains on the margins. Things are decidedly worse for the Greens, never particularly popular in the East, below 4% in Thuringia and around 5% in Saxony and, above all, for the liberals of the FDP at 1% (-4.0) in Thuringia and 1% in Saxony (-3.5%).

“We are ready to take on the responsibility of government,” said the leader of the AfD in Thuringia, Hoecke, commenting on the results. The people “voted clearly today and said that there is no way to continue like this, we need changes and changes will only come with the AfD,” added Hoecke. A message also shared by the two co-leaders of the AfD at the national level, Tino Crhupalla and Alice Weidel, who spoke of a “historic result”. The position of the CDU remains clear, with the secretary general of the CDU, Carsten Linnemann, reiterating that it excludes any coalition or collaboration with the far right. More available is Sahra Wagenknecht, founder of the BSW, who has ruled out a “government with the AfD”, but is open to collaborating “if the AfD suggests something sensible”. According to projections by Infratest Dimap, a coalition of CDU, BSW and SPD or Linke in Thuringia would have a majority in the new state parliament. The situation in Saxony is even more uncertain and complicated for the creation of a government coalition.