This Sunday’s state election (6) in Saxony-Anhalt, in eastern Germany, is marked by significant voter participation. At 4pm local time – and 11am in Brasília –, 65.3% of voters had gone to the polls, according to data from the state electoral authority, without counting votes sent by mail. At the same time as the 2021 election, participation was 41%. Around 1.7 million people are eligible to vote in the state, which has approximately 2.1 million inhabitants.
The vote could go down in German history if the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right party, manages to form a state government. It would be the first time since the end of the Second World War that a far-right party would come to command a German state. The AfD, represented by candidate Ulrich Siegmund, appears with more than 40% of voting intentions in the polls, ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has governed the region for 24 years. The CDU is the same party as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The state is mostly rural, was part of the territory of East Germany and has economic indicators lower than those of a large part of the country, a scenario that fuels discontent among part of the population and has been exploited by the AfD in its campaign. Issues such as immigration, security and job losses are among the main themes of the dispute.
The possibility of an AfD victory gained a national dimension because the main German parties maintain a policy of non-cooperation with the party. If it wins an absolute majority in the state Parliament, the AfD will be able to govern without needing allies and, in practice, break this barrier. The Saxony-Anhalt result, therefore, is closely watched in Berlin and could become a milestone for the advancement of the far right in German politics.
German regional elections follow in the coming weeks in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, as the capital is a city-state. According to a report from German wavethe expectation is that the AfD will double its number of voters in Berlin – in the last elections they reached 9% and win in Mecklenburg, currently governed by the Social Democrats.
*With information from Deutsche Welle and AFP
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
