Saxony‑Anhalt Election: AfD Leads, Coalition Talks Heat Up

The state election in Saxony‑Anhalt on 6 September shows the far‑right AfD well ahead in the polls, with support around 41‑42 %. The CDU trails at roughly 25 % and the Left Party (Die Linke) is positioned as a potential king‑maker. The CDU’s 2018 party rule bans coalitions with both the AfD and the Left, prompting debate over a possible CDU minority government tolerated by the Left.

Party leaders stress “keeping the AfD out of power”. Die Linke’s Ines Schwerdtner pledged to block an AfD‑led government, even if it means tolerating a CDU‑led minority. AfD strategists, according to a report, are preparing a “Plan B” that would enlist dissenting CDU legislators to secure a governing majority without an outright AfD majority.

At the federal level, interior ministers are preparing for a scenario in which an AfD minister could sit on the Interior Ministers’ Conference, exploring procedural changes should an AfD member assume a ministerial role.

The election’s outcome also raises concerns for policy areas such as school inclusion in Saxony‑Anhalt, where the current law obliges special‑needs students to attend separate schools, a practice critics say violates the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and could be exploited by the AfD’s education agenda.