In Saxony and Thuringia, voters will decide today on the future balance of power in the state parliaments. The polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. The main focus is on the question of how well the AfD will perform, which could become the strongest force in a state election for the first time.
In Thuringia, the party led by right-wing extremist Björn Höcke was clearly ahead in polls. In Saxony, it has been in a race for first place with Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer’s CDU in recent weeks.
However, there is no alliance partner in sight for the AfD in either Dresden or Erfurt. Both state associations are classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist. It is therefore eagerly awaited which government majorities will be possible without the party. In both states, it is becoming difficult to form a coalition.
In Thuringia, for example, recent surveys suggested that only a rather unusual coalition of the second-placed CDU, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) and the SPD had any prospect of a politically viable majority. The BSW, which was only founded at the beginning of the year, was well into double figures in the surveys in both states and in Thuringia was even at 20 percent.
The traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP must expect poor results; the FDP and, in Thuringia, the Greens were recently below the five percent hurdle in polls.
A red-red-green minority government under Left Party Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow is currently in power in Erfurt. However, according to surveys, this alliance has little chance of being continued. In Saxony, Kretschmer’s CDU is in power with the Greens and SPD – here it is at least conceivable that a new version could be possible.
The polling stations in both countries are open until 6 p.m.
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