With 32.8 percent in first place in Thuringia, with 30.6 percent in Saxony just behind the CDU (31.9 percent) in second place: For the partly right-wing extremist AfD, the recent state elections in East Germany on September 1 were successful.
In a week’s time on Sunday (September 22), the third election in East Germany this year will take place in Brandenburg. And in the state of 2.6 million inhabitants around Berlin, the AfD can also expect to gain ground and possibly jump to first place.
In the latest survey (infratest/dimap) this week, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke’s SPD can once again hope to take first place. With values of around 26 percent, it is catching up with previous surveys.
According to infratest/dimap, the FDP has no chance of entering the state parliament. The Liberals, who narrowly missed the five percent hurdle in Brandenburg in 2019 with four percent, are now below the perception threshold. This time, it could also be a close call for the Greens, the Left Party and the Free Voters (BVB/FW) to enter the state parliament.
Kretschmer praises Woidke
SPD leader and Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke has declared first place as his party’s clear election goal. If the SPD does not achieve this, Woidke has announced that he will retire from state politics.
Yesterday, Woidke received support from Saxony’s CDU Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer. It is “very important that the SPD is ahead of the AfD in Brandenburg,” said Kretschmer in a double interview that the FAZ conducted with him and Woidke. Woidke has “done Brandenburg a lot of good,” said Kretschmer about his counterpart.
In Saxony and Thuringia, where elections were held almost two weeks ago, the formation of a government remains difficult.
In Saxony, a continuation of the current three-party coalition of CDU, SPD and Greens is mathematically impossible. A government without the AfD, which excludes all other parties, is only possible with the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance – for example in the form of a collaboration between the CDU, BSW and SPD. Most recently, Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer met with BSW federal party leader Sahra Wagenknecht to “explore possibilities for political cooperation”.
The Thuringian stalemate
The situation is even more complicated in Thuringia: CDU leader Mario Voigt is trying to forge a coalition without the AfD. However, with 44 of 88 seats, the CDU, BSW and SPD are just short of a majority in the Thuringian state parliament and would be dependent on support from the Left Party. So far, the CDU has ruled out cooperation with the Left Party at the federal level, as well as cooperation with the AfD.
Source: Nachrichten
