AfD negotiates on government, Schulze to lead state CDU

10.09.2026 08:25 HotInfo

Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained political initiative after a strong victory in the Saxony-Anhalt state elections, but needs a partner to form a government. Only the BSW movement accepted the offer of exploratory talks. The SPD, the Greens, the Left, and the CDU all rejected negotiations with the AfD. hnonline.sk ↗

BSW stated that it remains true to its previous line, but at the same time announced a meeting with the winning party. Their possible cooperation could decide the future leadership of the state. The AfD narrowly failed to reach an absolute majority in the vote.

After the CDU's election defeat, Premier Sven Schulze was elected as the new chairman of its state parliamentary faction. He won the contest against the previous faction leader by a vote of 8:7. Schulze expects the new state government to be elected during the first session of parliament in early October. Welt ↗

His decision was criticized by CDU politician Holger Stahlknecht, who called it a "completely wrong signal" and warned of "a stalemate lasting several months." Schulze is also striving to ensure that a possible future AfD premier, Ulrich Siegmund, does not take over the rotating chairmanship of the conference of German state premiers. Tagesspiegel ↗

The possible banning of the AfD also remains a contentious issue. CDU chairman Friedrich Merz stated that such a step could be repeatedly examined, but represents "a very high hurdle," and that a ban itself would not, in his view, solve the problem. State representative Rainer Robra also rejected disconnecting Saxony-Anhalt from security information sharing. Deutschlandfunk ↗

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