The German CDU wins the Saxony-Anhalt elections with 37.1% of the votes

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The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt this Sunday with 37.1% of the votes, more than 15 percentage points ahead of the extreme right, which remained in the second position.

According to the latest provisional results of this Monday of the Regional Electoral Commission, the conservatives of Chancellor Angela Merkel obtained in this federated state of the east of the country their best mark in 19 years, improving by 7.3 percentage points their results of the previous elections and well above what the polls anticipated.

In second place was Alternative for Germany (AfD), which achieved 20.8% of support despite losing 3.8 percentage points compared to the 2016 elections. The polls had placed the far-rightists almost in a technical tie with the Conservatives.

In the third position, after yielding 5.3 percentage points compared to the previous regional elections, was La Izquierda, which won 11% of the ballots. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) came in fourth, with 8.4% of the vote, 2.2 percentage points below its previous record and at its worst all-time record in Saxony-Anhalt.

The Liberal Party (FDP), fifth, returned to the regional parliament (for exceeding the legal minimum of 5%) with 6.4% of support, 1.5 points above its previous mark. The sixth formation present in the regional Legislative is Los Verdes, which obtained 5.9% of the votes, 0.7 percentage points more than in the 2016 elections.

By seats, the CDU obtained 40 seats in the Magdeburg parliament, by 23 from AfD, 12 from La Izquierda, 9 from SPD, 7 from FDP, and 6 from Los Verdes. The majority is achieved with 49. This means that the CDU and its regional leader, Rainer Hasselof, have different options to form a majority coalition.

They could reissue the current Executive (2016-2021) with Social Democrats and Greens, or that of the first legislature (2011-2016), only with the SPD. They would also add the tripartite with the SPD and the FPD, and with Los Verdes and the FDP. The preliminary round of contacts to form a government will begin shortly.

The Saxony-Anhalt elections are the last appointment with the polls before the general elections on September 26, the most uncertain in Germany in more than a decade due to the departure of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the erosion of the conservative bloc by the pandemic management.