The story so far: The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a major victory in the regional election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. It won 39 seats of the 83-member state parliament, falling just three seats short of an absolute majority.
Ms While the party was initially mobilised along the lines of being anti-Euro (against the single currency regime). One of its most popular and controversial policy demands has been the concept of ‘remigration’, which advocates for the return of non-ethnic German citizens, particularly those from Muslim countries, to their country of origin. In Saxony-Anhalt, the party had been campaigning on multiple demands. With respect to migration policy, it has propounded remigration as well as an overhaul of the refugee policy. It has also floated the idea of separate classes/schools for children of asylum seekers. Some critics have drawn parallels between AfD’s political playbook and U.S. Saxony-Anhalt is one of the smallest states, which lies towards the eastern side. The state used to be under communist rule as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), till the 1990s, when the country was finally reunified after the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, eastern states have often felt left out and ignored by the ruling ‘western’ establishment. Most former GDR citizens allege that they remain underrepresented at higher levels of government and in media and have less economic benefits than the western region. Domestically, if the AfD is to form a government in the state, it will have overarching powers regarding education and security issues. However, since the party falls short of an absolute majority, it is yet unclear how it expects to govern. While Mr. Moreover, the ‘firewall’ in German Parliament further complicates coalition talks. AfD’s rise in the elections is also an indictment of the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The people in the country generally feel that the Chancellor has not held up his promise to ensure fiscal discipline and revive the stagnating German economy. Mr.
Merkel’s open-door refugee policy in 2015 led the party to be increasingly consolidated around anti-immigration lines. Germany has 16 federal states, with each state conducting its own election every five years. It will also get four seats in the upper house of the German Parliament, the Bundesrat, which represents the 16 states of the country.
Because of the war in West Asia and sanctions on Russia, has hit the state of Saxony-Anhalt quite hard, the cost of living crisis, stoked by inflation due to rising energy prices.
It has said that it will start deporting irregular migrants from day one and that mass detention facilities would be expanded. Ulrich Siegmund, who was the lead candidate for the AfD in the State election and won 49.0% of the votes, has listed among his top priorities “a deportation offensive” and dropping incentives for people to come to Germany to “exploit our social system”. With respect to education, the party has said that it will make homeschooling, which is currently banned, legal; that the school curriculum would be reformed, as it is ‘overtly focused’ on the Nazi regime; and that instead of rainbow flags, only the German national flag would be hoisted in schools. It has said that it will change the state’s slogan of ‘Think Modern’ to ‘Think German’. Siegmund had earlier remarked that the party wouldn’t engage in “games” such as a minority government, he has now said that he will be waiting with an “outstretched hand”. Merz has said that he was “deeply shocked” by the election results.
President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) model, where the party reiterates German identity in purely ethnic terms, drawing on earlier imaginings or nostalgia for a brighter and stronger nation, by promoting policies which isolate the country from regional and larger world groupings, mainly the European Union, using ethno-nationalist tropes.
