{"id":763638,"date":"2026-09-08T05:50:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/763638\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T05:50:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T05:50:15","slug":"german-chancellor-vows-to-stay-in-office-despite-afd-triumph-in-state-election-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/763638\/","title":{"rendered":"German chancellor vows to stay in office despite AfD triumph in state election | Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

A \u201cshocked\u201d and chastened Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite the far right\u2019s triumph in a state election<\/a> that has brought anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin politicians within striking distance of power.<\/p>\n

The German chancellor, appearing ashen-faced in front of reporters in Berlin, said on Monday that the landslide victory by the Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt had shaken his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) \u201cto its very foundations\u201d.<\/p>\n

The unpopular Merz, who had pledged to halve the AfD\u2019s support at the national level, has watched the nativist party rack up electoral gains, none as convincing as its utter rout of the CDU in the eastern region on Sunday with nearly 44% of the vote.<\/p>\n

The AfD and its candidate Ulrich Siegmund fell short of an absolute majority but could yet create Germany\u2019s first far-right state government since the Nazi period.<\/p>\n

Merz appeared contrite and willing to work on his \u201ccommunication\u201d with voters. \u201cThis is the worst electoral defeat the [CDU] has suffered in years, in decades,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course this will have to have consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exit polls indicated the state\u2019s voters were driven by deep dissatisfaction with the political establishment and its stewardship of Europe\u2019s biggest economy, with one showing that only 9% approved of Merz\u2019s performance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ulrich Siegmund mocked Merz as \u2018a very good campaigner\u2019 for the AfD. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Siegmund, a media-savvy former fragrance salesman, was also able to tap into a sense of grievance in the former communist east, where complaints abound that voters there are treated as \u201csecond-class citizens\u201d more than three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall.<\/p>\n

Siegmund, 35, mocked the 70-year-old Merz as \u201ca very good campaigner\u201d for the AfD.<\/p>\n

Only 16 months in office, Merz conceded his own low poll ratings had played a role in his party\u2019s loss. \u201cI know that I personally was a constant topic in this election campaign,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must try \u2013 myself included \u2013 to reach people more effectively, in the full range of their emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018We\u2018We should have learned more from history\u2019: Germans react to AfD win \u2013 video<\/p>\n

The CDU\u2019s junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, indicated a willingness to water down contentious measures to shore up the statutory healthcare and pension schemes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, Merz insisted: \u201cMy determination to continue on the path of reform is unbroken,\u201d saying a sustainable system was essential for the sake of \u201cour children and grandchildren\u201d. He added: \u201cGiving up is not an option for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merz said he wanted to assure Germany\u2019s allies that \u201cour institutions are resilient and stable\u201d and its own vulnerable minorities that the country would stick to its values and constitution even if the AfD took power in Saxony-Anhalt. \u201cWe know that Germany carries special responsibility because of its history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also promised to stay the course on Ukraine, stressing he would \u201cnot budge a single millimetre from my fundamental conviction that we must defend our freedom against Russia as well\u201d.<\/p>\n

Merz said Moscow would cheer the AfD\u2019s success in Saxony-Anhalt and accused it of lending support to the far right\u2019s campaign, with another two German state elections still to come this month amid alleged Russian interference and sabotage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sven Schulze, the CDU state premier for Saxony-Anhalt, acknowledged his party now had \u2018no mandate\u2019 to govern in the state. Photograph: Annegret Hilse\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Although the CDU rallied behind its chancellor and party leader, several influential commenters openly called for his immediate replacement \u2013 a complex step under German law.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every day<\/p>\n

Sign up to Headlines Europe<\/p>\n

A digest of the morning’s main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Germany \u201cneeds a clean slate, a fresh start, and that starts with Friedrich Merz\u201d, said the Der Spiegel editor-in-chief, Dirk Kurbjuweit<\/a>. \u201cHe is evidently the wrong man for this office in these times.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AfD\u2019s Saxony-Anhalt chapter is listed as \u201cconfirmed rightwing extremist\u201d by the domestic intelligence service. It has pledged mass deportations of unwelcome immigrants and asylum seekers<\/a>, which critics have said would be illegal, while promising massive boosts in social welfare spending with unclear financing.<\/p>\n

The AfD has also taken aim at state support for public broadcasters and cultural institutions it deems \u201cunpatriotic\u201d<\/a>, sparking fears of \u201ccultural hegemony\u201d.<\/p>\n

The party did not win enough seats to elect Siegmund as state premier, but AfD leaders said they seek to pick off rebel lawmakers from other parties willing to play kingmaker. It is only three seats short of a majority.<\/p>\n

The conservative-left populist BSW party<\/a>, which also favours restoring ties with Russia and largely blocking immigration, signalled an openness to working with the AfD but before the election ruled out joining the state government.<\/p>\n

In the 13 years of the AfD\u2019s existence, the mainstream parties have maintained a \u201cfirewall\u201d against the far right, refusing any formal cooperation that would allow it take power. The strategy meant to sideline the party has appeared to backfire, however, as the permanent \u201coutsider\u201d role appeals to legions of voters fed up with politics as usual.<\/p>\n

The CDU state premier, Sven Schulze, acknowledged his party had \u201cno mandate\u201d to govern given its humiliating 17% result, even if it managed to cobble together an unwieldy coalition with all the other parties in the legislature.<\/p>\n

Although Saxony-Anhalt forms part of the AfD heartland as a relatively poor, ex-communist region, the party has begun making inroads in the west<\/a> as well amid alarming signs of decline in the steel, chemicals and automotive sectors.<\/p>\n

Germany faces another two regional elections on 20 September, in Berlin and in another eastern state, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the AfD is also strong.<\/p>\n

The party co-leader Alice Weidel, beaming after Sunday\u2019s vote, said the AfD was now targeting 40% at the next general election, due in 2029. It is polling at about 28%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u201cshocked\u201d and chastened Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite the far right\u2019s triumph in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-763638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}