Merz Denounces AfD After 44% Saxony-Anhalt Win as Weidel Says His Coalition Is Finished
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 9
Merz Denounces AfD After 44% Saxony-Anhalt Win as Weidel Says His Coalition Is Finished
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 9
Summary
44% in Saxony-Anhalt put the AfD at the center of a Bundestag showdown, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz called the party a “destructive force” and said its remigration agenda would amount to ethnic cleansing for skilled workers.
Three seats short of an outright majority, the AfD still used the result to attack Merz’s government, with Alice Weidel telling MPs his conservatives were “pulverised” after falling to 17.2% and that his coalition had failed.
Merz argued the AfD’s migration plans would hit millions and cripple care homes, hospitals and restaurants, while also accusing the party of harming German interests through its backing for Russia.
Saxony-Anhalt’s result is a historic test of Germany’s firewall against the far right: no such party has taken power in any of the country’s 16 states since World War Two, though the AfD is now seeking partners to install Ulrich Siegmund as premier.
Will Germany's desperate need for skilled labor ultimately defeat the AfD's radical mass deportation agenda?
Could an unthinkable alliance between far-right and left-wing populists finally shatter Germany's political firewall?
How is a TikTok star's sunny persona masking a radical political agenda that could cripple Germany?
Germany’s Far-Right Breakthrough: AfD’s 43.8% Landslide in Saxony-Anhalt, CDU Collapse, and the Shattering of the Political Firewall
Overview
The September 2026 Saxony-Anhalt election marked a historic turning point in German politics, with the far-right AfD winning 43.8% of the vote and nearly securing an outright majority, while the CDU suffered a dramatic collapse. This surge was fueled by record voter turnout, especially among young people, and deep frustrations in eastern Germany over economic inequality, cultural divides, and a sense of abandonment since reunification. The result triggered a leadership crisis in the CDU, exposed cracks in the traditional firewall against the far-right, and left government formation in gridlock. The AfD’s rise, amplified by pro-Russian sentiment and international right-wing support, now threatens to reshape both German and European politics.