Meretz 'shocked' after far-right's historic win in German local elections
Berlin – AFP – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces a genuine challenge following the resounding victory of the far right in Sunday’s local elections, which places the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in a strong position to lead a state government for the first time since 1945.
On Monday, Merz expressed “deep shock” but vowed to continue his difficult reforms, while working to explain them better to voters.
Speaking on the day after the vote in Saxony-Anhalt (formerly communist eastern Germany), he appeared visibly moved, saying, “This is the most severe electoral defeat suffered by the Christian Democratic Union in years, if not decades.”
The anti-immigration, Russia-friendly party dealt a crushing blow to the Christian Democratic Union, winning 44 percent of the vote compared to less than 18 percent for Merz’s conservatives.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the AfD, launched a sharp attack the day after the elections, stating that “no chancellor has ever been as unpopular as Friedrich Merz, who has become a major burden on Germany’s thriving development,” and predicting her party’s victory in the general elections of 2029.
Ulrich Siegmond (35), the AfD’s winning candidate in the state, said voters had sent “a message to Berlin,” and sarcastically thanked the 70-year-old Merz for being “such a good campaigner” for the AfD.
He said, “This is a very clear mandate to form a government. It cannot be clearer than that.”
Sven Schulze, the outgoing state premier who continues to serve in a caretaker capacity, acknowledged that “our position is now in opposition, while the mandate to govern has passed to Alternative for Germany.”
Merz admitted that his low popularity played a role in his party’s loss, saying, “I know that I was personally the focus of this election campaign.”
However, he vowed that his “determination to continue on the path of reforms remains firm,” stressing that this is necessary for “our children and grandchildren.”
Regarding Germany’s support for Ukraine, Merz emphasized that he “will not retreat an inch from his fundamental conviction that we must also defend our freedom against Russia.”
While the result sparked jubilation among party supporters, the prospect of the first far-right government taking power in a German state since World War II has caused deep concern among other political parties, many immigrants, and minority groups.
The domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt branch as an “extreme right-wing” organization, while some of Siegmond’s staff members were former members of a banned neo-Nazi group.
For his part, Merz stressed that the law and constitution apply throughout Germany, adding, “This applies to all policies on migration and foreign affairs.”
Pressure on Merz has increased not only from the far right but also within his own coalition, which is struggling to revive a stagnant economy and faces divisions over social policies, particularly the pension system.
Founded in 2013 as a Eurosceptic party, the AfD quickly shifted its focus to attacking the open-door refugee and migration policy pursued by former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The chancellor will have little time to catch his breath before two more electoral tests on September 20.
In the western German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in eastern Germany, forecasts indicate that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) by 35–37% compared to 28–32%. In Berlin, competition is intensifying between the CDU, the AfD, and the radical left Die Linke party, with the gap among the three narrowing to a very slim margin.
Trump did not explicitly comment on the results, but on Sunday evening he posted a chart of the election results on his platform, Truth Social, signaling his interest in the outcome, while his supporters celebrated the results.
Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, described the result as a “huge victory and a new day in Germany.”
In Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Sunday’s vote represented a “warning that the threat of extremism is spreading across Europe and the world, largely due to the defeat of the traditional right.”
