Merz, "shocked", says that the result in Saxony-Anhalt cannot be ignored but rules out resigning

BarcelonaThe overwhelming victory of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt represents a lesson for the Berlin government and, more directly, for the CDU, the traditional German conservative party that leads the governing coalition at the federal level. "We are deeply shocked; we did not expect this," admitted the chancellor and leader of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, in a press conference after meeting with the party leadership. The Christian Democrats, who had been governing this small state for 25 years, have given up on trying to form a government after losing 20% of the support they received in the previous regional elections. "We no longer have a mandate to form a government; the AfD has it," said the minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt and candidate for the Christian Democrats, Sven Schulze.

At a time of low popularity for the chancellor, this result represents a clear message of punishment and a warning regarding the undeniable growth of the far right. "It is the worst result for the CDU in decades," lamented Merz, who promised that there would be consequences, although he did not specify any. On the contrary, he insisted that the government is "on the right track" and is making efforts to "correct errors" from the previous twenty years. He only admitted that the executive must work to communicate better what it is doing and "reconnect" with Germans. He said that, as chancellor, he assumes responsibility for the negative result, but stressed that he has the support of the party leaders.

Merz could receive another hard blow in two weeks: on September 20, there are elections in the states of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, both also in the east of the country. In a direct question about at what point he might conclude that he can no longer serve as chancellor, Merz replied that he is reflecting seriously on "how to improve together" and that "giving up is not an option".

The leader of the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt has made it clear that the party is now "in opposition", and said that it will take time to evaluate the disastrous results of the party. However, Schulze did not clarify if he will resign: "I ran as the main candidate and, of course, I will draw the necessary conclusions from it". He also assumed that the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) "will ensure" that there is an AfD minister-president.

The AfD threatens new elections

This party, a splinter group of The Left that bears the name of its founder, has entered the Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt with 5.2%, brushing against the limit, and represents a blessing for the far right. BSW is the only formation that has rejected the cordon sanitaire and has shown itself open to cooperating with the AfD. The party has stated publicly that it does not want to invest either Schulze or Ulrich Siegmund (the far-right candidate), but rather that its preference is a "non-partisan" candidate. Siegmund has made it clear that this option is out of the question. "The voters must receive what they have voted for," he argued. And he added that, if he does not have enough support for the investiture, "there will be new elections," and he predicted that the AfD would then obtain "50% or 55%" of the votes.

With 39 deputies, the AfD has fallen three seats short of an absolute majority, meaning it needs external support to be able to govern. In the first two rounds of the investiture vote, an absolute majority is required, but in the third round the state Constitution stipulates that a simple majority is sufficient. The regional leader of BSW, Thomas Schulze, reiterated this Monday that the party will not participate in any cordon sanitaire and pointed out that it could abstain in a third vote, which would lead to the investiture of Ulrich Siegmund.

However, Siegmund does not view this favorably: "An abstention does not constitute a stable majority for me," he said in a joint press conference with the co-chairs of the AfD, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, who urged the CDU to make a "center-right conservative majority" possible. "Partisan games should be a thing of the past," said Chrupalla, referring to the firewall policy.