On October 22, state elections were held in the capital city state of Brandenburg.
The SPD party has the most votes (30.9%). But this advantage is minimal, writes the Berlin publication taz.
The far-right AfD, which sympathizes with Russia and advocates ending aid to Ukraine, is second. It received 29.2% of the vote. Sahra Wagenknecht’s alliance (BSW) came in third with 13.5% of the vote. The CDU party received 12.1% of the vote, while the Greens failed to clear the five percent barrier and did not enter parliament.
Voter turnout was 74%, a record for Brandenburg and the fourth-highest ever recorded in a state election in eastern Germany. The Brandenburg campaign focused on immigration, the war in Ukraine and fears of right-wing extremism.
The main intrigue now is what the new government in Brandenburg will be like. SPD representatives want to start negotiations on its formation this week. Meanwhile, the far-right has achieved a blocking minority in the state parliament: out of 88 seats, they have 30. This means that the AfD will be able to block decisions and elections that require a two-thirds majority. For example, constitutional amendments.
Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) said he would like to discuss forming a coalition with the CDU. Woidke noted that talks with the BSW on forming a three-party coalition are possible.
On the other hand, the AfD, with which no party is willing to cooperate, has won more than a third of the seats in the Landtag, giving it the power to block decisions that require a two-thirds majority, such as the election of constitutional court judges. AfD leader Hans-Christoph Berndt called his party “the party of the future” and emphasized its support among young people.
The turnout in this election was the highest in recent years – 72.9%, which is significantly higher than the 2019 level (61.3%). It is also the highest turnout since 1990.
The Social Democrats’ Woidke noted that these elections were difficult:
It was not an easy fight. I used all democratic means to prevent the victory of a party that represents much of what I have always fought against politically.”
He also added that the AfD’s results were a “serious alarm signal.”
The leader of Sahra Wagenknecht’s left-wing populists (BSW) in Brandenburg, Robert Krumbach, expressed joy at his party’s success:
Less than nine months have passed since the founding of our party, and for the third time we have achieved excellent results and entered the Landtag.
The Left’s leader Janine Wissler called her party’s result a “turning point” as the Livi failed to enter the state parliament in the eastern German region for the first time.
Earlier in Germany, there were performances in Thuringia and Saxony.
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party showed the best result in the state elections in Thuringia, receiving 32.8%, according to preliminary official voting results published by the television and radio company ARD.
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) came in second with 23.6% of the vote. Third place went to the left-wing populist party Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), founded in January 2024, with 15.8%. The Left Party showed the fourth result with 13.1%, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which is the leading party in Germany, came in fifth with 6.1%. The Alliance 90/The Greens parties, which are part of the federal ruling coalition, and the Free Democratic Party (VDP) received 3.2 and 1.1% of the votes, respectively, and did not make it into the state parliament. The turnout in the elections in Thuringia was 73.6%.
In Saxony, which is neighbouring Thuringia, the conservative CDU showed the best result in the state elections, according to preliminary data. They managed to gain 31.9% of the local voters’ votes. The second result here is in the AfD (30.6%), followed by the BSW (11.8%), the SPD (7.3%), the Greens (5.1%) and the Left Party (4.5%).
In Saxony, only the AfD managed to improve its result compared to the previous election campaign – by 3.1%. The turnout in these elections was 74.4%.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.