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Sunday, October 13, 2024

Germany’s land elections: where does the ‘right’ turn lead?

Not a single land election in Germany has caused such excitement and a cascade of political forecasts as the one held on 1 September in the eastern German states of Thuringia and Saxony, as well as the one to be held soon in Brandenburg. These elections have been awaited and talked about all year, labelled both ‘momentous’ and ‘pivotal’ for all Germans. In the media field, they have temporarily pushed aside all other events.

In Erfurt, the main city of Thuringia, more than 700 media representatives were accredited on the day of voting, which once again emphasised the extraordinary nature of the election results. As DW notes, according to preliminary data, for the first time in the history of its existence, the far-right party Alternative for Germany won with 32.8 per cent of the vote. Second place went to the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which won 23.6 per cent. Third was the left-populist party founded in January 2024, Sarah Wagenknecht’s Union for Common Sense and Justice (BSW) with 15.8 per cent. The Left Party came fourth with 13.1 per cent, while the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), came fifth with 6.1 per cent. The Union-90/Greens (3.2 per cent of the vote) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) (1.1 per cent), part of the federal ruling coalition, did not make it into the state parliament. The turnout in the Thuringian elections was 73.6 per cent. Thus, 32 seats in the regional parliament will go to the AdG, 23 to the CDU, 15 to the FDP, 12 to the Left and 6 to the SPD. At least 45 deputies are needed to form a governing coalition in Thuringia.

In Saxony, which neighbours Thuringia, the CDU conservatives had the best result in the land elections. They managed to gain 31.9 per cent of the votes of local voters. The second result here went to the AdG (30.6 per cent), followed by the Sarah Wagenknecht Union (11.8 per cent). The SPD (7.3 per cent), the Greens (5.1 per cent) and the Left (4.5 per cent) finished next. The turnout in this election was 74.4 per cent. The seats in parliament will be distributed as follows: CDU will get 42 mandates, AdG 40, SSV 15, SPD 10, Greens 7 and the Left 6. In order to form a coalition, at least 61 deputies are needed.

In fact, the results of the land elections were not a revelation to anyone. The success in the east of the country of the Alternative for Germany and the left-wing populist Sarah Wagenknecht Union (BSW) was predictable. Let us try to understand the reasons for the triumph of the extreme right and ultra-left, the weakening of the positions of the parties of the ‘traffic light coalition’, and how the elections in Thuringia and Saxony will affect the domestic and foreign policy of Germany.

In this piece, Ascolta analyses the results of the land elections held in the two German states last weekend. It also looks not only at the results and consequences of the elections themselves, but also at the origins of the rise of right-wing views and the prospects for their further development in Germany. 

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Not a single land election in Germany has caused such excitement and a cascade of political forecasts as the one held on 1 September in the eastern German states of Thuringia and Saxony, as well as the one to be held soon in Brandenburg. These elections have been awaited and talked about all year, labelled both ‘momentous’ and ‘pivotal’ for all Germans. In the media field, they have temporarily pushed aside all other events.

In Erfurt, the main city of Thuringia, more than 700 media representatives were accredited on the day of voting, which once again emphasised the extraordinary nature of the election results. As DW notes, according to preliminary data, for the first time in the history of its existence, the far-right party Alternative for Germany won with 32.8 per cent of the vote. Second place went to the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which won 23.6 per cent. Third was the left-populist party founded in January 2024, Sarah Wagenknecht’s Union for Common Sense and Justice (BSW) with 15.8 per cent. The Left Party came fourth with 13.1 per cent, while the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), came fifth with 6.1 per cent. The Union-90/Greens (3.2 per cent of the vote) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) (1.1 per cent), part of the federal ruling coalition, did not make it into the state parliament. The turnout in the Thuringian elections was 73.6 per cent. Thus, 32 seats in the regional parliament will go to the AdG, 23 to the CDU, 15 to the FDP, 12 to the Left and 6 to the SPD. At least 45 deputies are needed to form a governing coalition in Thuringia.

In Saxony, which neighbours Thuringia, the CDU conservatives had the best result in the land elections. They managed to gain 31.9 per cent of the votes of local voters. The second result here went to the AdG (30.6 per cent), followed by the Sarah Wagenknecht Union (11.8 per cent). The SPD (7.3 per cent), the Greens (5.1 per cent) and the Left (4.5 per cent) finished next. The turnout in this election was 74.4 per cent. The seats in parliament will be distributed as follows: CDU will get 42 mandates, AdG 40, SSV 15, SPD 10, Greens 7 and the Left 6. In order to form a coalition, at least 61 deputies are needed.

In fact, the results of the land elections were not a revelation to anyone. The success in the east of the country of the Alternative for Germany and the left-wing populist Sarah Wagenknecht Union (BSW) was predictable. Let us try to understand the reasons for the triumph of the extreme right and ultra-left, the weakening of the positions of the parties of the ‘traffic light coalition’, and how the elections in Thuringia and Saxony will affect the domestic and foreign policy of Germany.

In this piece, Ascolta analyses the results of the land elections held in the two German states last weekend. It also looks not only at the results and consequences of the elections themselves, but also at the origins of the rise of right-wing views and the prospects for their further development in Germany. 

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