Far-right AfD wins local elections in Thuringia, Germany
Far-right AfD wins local elections in Thuringia (photo: Getty Images)
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) may become a leading political force for the first time after the local elections in Thuringia. Meanwhile, in Saxony, the AfD is slightly behind the Christian Democratic Union, according to Spiegel.
Almost 1.7 million eligible voters in Thuringia were able to cast their ballots by 18:00. According to the initial forecasts of the ARD channel, the AfD party, which is classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist party, is clearly winning with 30.5% of the vote. The Christian Democrats, in turn, came in second with 24.5%.
The Left, led by the current Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, dropped to 4th place with 12.5%. They lost more than half of their votes compared to 2019. Meanwhile, according to exit polls, the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which is considered far-left and pro-Russian, is in third place with up to 16%.
The party of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will receive 7% of the vote. However, the Green Party and the FDP will not get into the state parliament, as they gained 4% and 1.3% respectively.
Speaking of Saxony, where the Prime Minister is Michael Kretschmer, who called for an end to military aid to Ukraine, the forecasts are somewhat different. His CDU party holds a slight lead over the AfD.
According to the Infratest dimap institute, it won 31.5% of the vote on Sunday, while the AfD, which is also seen as a clear right-wing radical force by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution, received 30.0%.
Also, according to the forecast, the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) came in third with 12.0%, ahead of the SPD with 8.5%. The Greens with 5.5% were slightly above the five percent threshold, while the Left with 4.0%, and the FDP, which was not mentioned in the forecast separately, remained below that level.
