The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has secured nearly 33% of the votes in Thuringia, according to preliminary results.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) appears to have won its first state election since the right-wing party’s establishment in 2013.
Official preliminary results show the AfD receiving 32.8% of the vote in Sunday’s legislative election in Thuringia, a state located in eastern Germany.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party is projected to come in second, garnering 23.6% of the ballots.
Exit polls indicate a close race between the two parties in the neighboring state of Saxony, with the CDU and AfD claiming 32% and 31.5% of the vote, respectively.
None of the members of Germany’s ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition – the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens – were able to secure a top-three position in either state.
The third place in both Thuringia and Saxony went to the newly-formed left-wing party of Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). Despite their opposing political stances, both BSW and AfD advocate for stricter immigration controls and an end to Berlin’s support for Ukraine amidst its conflict with Russia.
AfD co-leader, Alice Weidel, declared the party’s performance in the Thuringia and Saxony elections, where approximately 1.7 and 3.3 million people were eligible to vote, respectively, as a “historic success.” In an interview with broadcaster ARD, she characterized the projected outcome as a “requiem” for Scholz’s coalition and called for a general election in Germany.
Tino Chrupalla, the other co-leader of AfD, stated that voters in both states have made it clear that “there should be a change of politics.” Chrupalla emphasized that AfD is “ready and willing to talk to all parties.”
However, the likelihood of AfD forming a regional government in any of the states remains low, as their political opponents have refused to cooperate with them.
“An openly right-wing extremist party has become the strongest force in a state parliament for the first time since 1949, and that causes many people very deep concern and fear,” insisted Omid Nouripour, the co-leader of the Greens.
Carsten Linnemann, the CDU’s national general secretary, asserted that “voters in both states knew that we would not form a coalition with AfD, and it will stay that way.” Weidel responded to the Christian Democrats’ position by calling it “pure ignorance.”