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, which leads the governing coalition at the federal level. "We are deeply shocked; we did not expect this," admitted the Chancellor and CDU leader, Friedrich Merz, in a press conference after meeting with the party's leadership. The Christian Democrats, who had been governing this small state for 25 years, have renounced attempting 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 the Christian Democrats' candidate, Sven Schulze.

At a time of low popularity for the Chancellor, this result is 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 will 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 the Germans. He said that, as Chancellor, he assumes responsibility for the negative result, but stressed that he has the support of the party's 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".

He also said that he will not deviate "even a millimeter" from Germany's current stance regarding Russia and Ukraine, despite the high support for pro-Russian parties in Saxony-Anhalt.

The SPD, its coalition partner in the federal executive, has pointed to the chancellor as part of the problem and to his "harmful" rhetoric. The co-chair of the Social Democrats, Bärbel Bas, considered that yesterday's result "is also a vote of no confidence in Berlin and the federal government". "We cannot ignore it", she said, and added that the governing parties will have to discuss together how to "incorporate the messages sent by the people". And she added that priority issues must be addressed, among which she cited reforms, pensions and, above all, education and employment.

The CDU renounces forming a government

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

This party, a breakaway from The Left that bears the name of its founder, has entered the Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt with 5.2%, scraping the limit, and represents a godsend 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 publicly stated 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. "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, which means 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 see this in a good light: "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. Merz, however, remained firm in his rejection of any kind of cooperation with the far right.