Elections in Saxony and Thuringia Is the traffic light coalition still doing politics for the people?

The far-right AfD has become the strongest party in a German federal state for the first time. And now?

The outcome of the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia and the losses of the established coalition parties SPD, FDP and Greens there have sent ripples through federal politics. While the SPD also criticized itself on Sunday evening, the FDP sought the reasons in the traffic light policy. The CDU and AfD questioned the "traffic light".

In Thuringia, the AfD received the most votes in a state election in Germany for the first time.

The party of top candidate Björn Höcke achieved a significant increase of 32.8 percent after all constituencies had been counted, as the state election administration announced on its website. This put him well ahead of the CDU, which received 23.6 percent. Third place went to the newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which achieved 15.8 percent, relegating the Left Party (13.1 percent) to fourth place. The SPD also made it into the state parliament with 6.1%, but not the Greens, who only achieved 3.2%. Voter turnout was significantly higher than last time at 73.6%.

In Saxony, the CDU won the election just ahead of the AfD. The BSW came third ahead of the SPD and the Greens, while the FDP clearly failed to reach the five percent hurdle.

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil expressed the claim on "ARD" that "we will do better". However, the SPD did better than predicted a few weeks ago, Klingbeil added. Nevertheless, this is a result "where you certainly can't cheer", he conceded.

SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert called on his party to show more self-confidence in the federal government. "For my party, it's about becoming more emancipated and not letting those who have been kicked out with a bang dance on their noses," said Kühnert on "ZDF".

Due to the SPD's losses, CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann sees his party as the last remaining genuine people's party. "We are the bulwark," said Linnemann on ARD television. In view of the performance of the governing parties, the question arises as to whether "the traffic light coalition is still doing politics for the people in Germany at all".

Green Party leader Omid Nouripour described it as a "turning point" that with the AfD "an openly right-wing extremist party has now become the strongest force in Thuringia". He sees and hears many people "who are simply afraid now", said Nouripour on "ZDF".

FDP leader Christian Lindner was disappointed by the election results. "The results in Saxony and Thuringia hurt," wrote the Federal Minister of Finance in the online service X. FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki cast doubt on the traffic light coalition: "The election result shows that the traffic light coalition has lost its legitimacy: The traffic light has lost its legitimacy," he wrote on X.

Janine Wissler, leader of the Left Party, spoke of a "very bitter election night" on ARD. This applies "not only when we look at the result of the Left Party, but also when, for the first time since the end of the Nazi era, an essentially fascist party becomes the strongest force in a state parliament", said Wissler.

A memo from the dissatisfied

BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht also attributed the strong performance of her party eight months after it was founded to a "representation gap in the German party system". Many people are dissatisfied with what is happening at federal level, but see no alternative in the CDU, she said on ZDF television.

AfD leader Alice Weidel sees her party's results as a "historic success". The AfD has become the "strongest force in state elections for the first time", she said on ARD. For Weidel, the results are "at the same time a punishment for the 'traffic light'". They "should ask themselves whether they can continue to govern".

Police seal off parliament building in Erfurt

According to police reports, around 400 people protested against the rise of the right-wing populist AfD in the Thuringian state election in front of the parliament building in Erfurt.

Over the past few days, demonstrators had repeatedly tried to persuade as many people as possible not to vote for the Alternative for Germany (AfD). According to projections, the AfD received 32 to 33 percent of the vote in the election. This makes it the strongest political force in a German federal state for the first time. The Thuringian AfD has been classified as proven right-wing extremist by the domestic secret service (Verfassungsschutz) for years.

Höcke: "This fills me with pride and satisfaction"

Thuringia's leading AfD candidate Björn Höcke has laid claim to government leadership in the state following his party's election success. "We are ready to take on government responsibility," said Höcke on ARD television on Sunday. It is a "good tradition that the strongest party invites people to talks", he emphasized.

According to projections, the AfD became the strongest party in the state parliament in Sunday's state election. "This fills me with great, great, great pride and satisfaction," said Höcke. The sovereign had "clearly cast his vote today, and he has said that there is no business as usual, we need change, and change will only come with the AfD".

Höcke said: "I think the old parties should practise humility first". He turned against "the stupid firewall talk, the stupid firewall posturing". That had to be over. The other parties have ruled out government cooperation with the AfD, which has been classified as right-wing extremist in Thuringia by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Saxony: Left and FDP below the five percent hurdle

According to forecasts, the AfD received 30 to 31.5 percent in Saxony (2019: 27.5 percent), just behind Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer's Christian Democrats with 31.5 to 32 percent (2019: 32.1 percent). The BSW, which was competing for the first time, also came third here with 11.5 to 12.0 percent. The Left Party slumped to 4.0 to 4.5 percent (2019: 10.4 percent). The SPD, which is traditionally weak in Saxony, landed at 8.5 percent (2019: 7.7 percent), while the Greens came in at 5 to 5.5 percent (2019: 8.6 percent). With around 1% (2019: 4.5%), the FDP once again failed to make it into the state parliament.

In Saxony, the CDU would have 43 seats, the AfD 41, the BSW 16, the SPD 12 and the Greens 8. If these forecasts are confirmed, CDU Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer could continue his coalition with the SPD and Greens, which has been in place since 2019.

Just under five million eligible voters are called to cast their ballots in the two federal states combined. In total, just over seven percent of the German population live in the two states, but they were particularly in the spotlight due to the expected strong performance of the AfD.

SDA