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Far Right AfD Wins Historic Victory in Saxony Anhalt State Election

evening · · thread: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Faces Leadership Crisis After Controversial Reshuffle

33 sources across 19 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • Der Spiegel Germany · Centre-left · ~50% staff-owned
  • Sueddeutsche Zeitung Germany · Centre-left · Sudwestdeutsche Medien Holding
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Financial Times United Kingdom · Centre · Nikkei Inc.
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • elDiarioAR Argentina · Centre-left · Newsroom-majority owned, membership funded
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • La Nacion Argentina · Centre-right · Saguier family
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery
  • Associated Press United States · Centre · Non-profit news cooperative
  • Bloomberg United States · Centre · Bloomberg L.P. (Michael Bloomberg)
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • Haaretz Israel · Left · Schocken family and M. DuMont Schauberg
  • The Jerusalem Post Israel · Centre-right · Mirkaei Tikshoret (Eli Azur)
  • ANSA Italy · Centre · Publisher cooperative
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • Politico Europe Belgium · Centre · Axel Springer SE
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • The Indian Express India · Centre · Indian Express Group (Goenka family)
  • The Jakarta Post Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Bina Media Tenggara
  • Asahi Shimbun Japan · Centre-left · Asahi Shimbun Company (family and employee held)
  • NRC Netherlands · Centre · Mediahuis
  • Aftenposten Norway · Centre-right · Schibsted, Tinius Trust foundation
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • Business Day South Africa · Centre-right · Arena Holdings (Lebashe Investment Group)
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won a historic victory in the state elections for Saxony Anhalt, securing 43.8 percent of the vote. The party won 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament, falling three seats short of an absolute majority. This result marks the party's best performance in any state election and leaves it close to forming the first far right regional government in Germany since World War Two. The center right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, suffered a severe defeat, with its share of the vote dropping to 17.2 percent.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the result as a shock and the worst defeat for the CDU in decades. Despite the loss, Merz stated that he would not abandon his course of reform and emphasized that Germany's democratic institutions and the Basic Law remain stable. He further asserted that the AfD's pro Russia stance would not change the federal government's support for Ukraine. In contrast, AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund called the victory a clear mandate to govern and suggested that other parties should enter talks to avoid chaos.

The path to forming a government remains uncertain. While mainstream parties have historically maintained a sanitary cordon to block the AfD from power, the populist left wing BSW party has emerged as a potential kingmaker. The BSW shares the AfD's opposition to mass immigration and its desire to restore ties with Russia. Other possibilities include a minority government or the prospect of new elections if a deadlock continues.

Outlets with a center right lean highlighted the personal and political challenge for Merz while noting the AfD's appeal to those feeling economically insecure. Center left and left leaning outlets focused on the danger the AfD poses to the democratic order and the potential for a tectonic shift in German politics. Center outlets focused primarily on the electoral numbers and the immediate logistical struggle to form a coalition government.

How each side framed it

Left
Framed the victory as a shattering of Germany's perceived immunity to right wing extremism.
Centre-left
Emphasized the shock to the democratic system and the potential danger of the far right's rise.
Centre
Focused on the electoral data and the immediate political deadlock regarding government formation.
Centre-right
Highlighted the failure of the CDU's current strategy and the AfD's appeal to disillusioned voters.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.