State elections: Scholz: “Sunday’s election results are bitter”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the election results in Thuringia and Saxony as “bitter”. At the same time, he was relieved that the “gloomy forecasts” that predicted the SPD could fall below the five percent hurdle did not come true.

“Sunday’s election results are bitter – for us too. Nevertheless, the SPD stuck together. We ran a good and clear election campaign together,” said the Chancellor’s first reaction to the results, which Scholz shared on Instagram in his capacity as a member of the Bundestag. “It shows that fighting is worth it. Now it’s about constantly campaigning for more and new approval.”

The SPD had its worst election results since 1990 in Saxony and Thuringia, with 7.3 and 6.1 percent respectively. The result in Thuringia is actually the worst in a state election ever.

Scholz wrote that he was particularly concerned about the AfD’s results in Saxony and Thuringia. The party, which is classified as definitely right-wing extremist there, received more than 30 percent of the votes in both states. “Our country cannot and must not get used to that,” said Scholz. “The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation. All democratic parties are now called upon to form stable governments without right-wing extremists.”

The Chancellor’s reaction to the election results was quicker this time than after the SPD’s defeat in the European elections in May, when it achieved its worst result in a national election in 130 years with 13.9 percent. At that time, Scholz only commented on the matter the day after when asked at a press conference with a guest from abroad. This was also met with criticism within the SPD. The fact that Scholz now expressed his reaction as a member of the Bundestag is probably due to the fact that elections and election campaigns are considered party matters.