In Saxony-Anhalt, Germany's far-right AfD has won nearly 44 percent of the vote — enough to reshape the political landscape, but not enough to govern alone. The party now stands at a crossroads familiar to movements built on purity: the moment when ideological intransigence meets the practical demands of power. Rather than reaching toward coalition, the AfD appears to be using its near-majority as a weapon, targeting potential partners for destruction rather than cooperation, and betting that upheaval itself is a form of victory.
AfD's Electoral Surge Meets Governing Reality as Party Rejects Compromise
There will be no bending on my part, no compromises.
Mark
So the AfD won nearly 44 percent in Saxony-Anhalt but can't govern alone. That's the whole story, right?
Mimi
It's the setup. The real story is that they've built their entire identity on rejecting compromise, and now they're facing a situation where compromise might be the only path to power.
Luke
But we should be clear about what "compromise" means here. The AfD isn't being asked to soften on some policy detail. They're being asked to work with parties they've explicitly called criminal organizations. That's not a normal negotiation.
Mark
So they're not actually interested in governing?
Mimi
That's the question. On election night, Siegmund sounded willing to talk. But within hours, he said there would be "no bending, no compromises." And then the party immediately started attacking the only two parties that could realistically work with them.
Luke
The CDU and the BSW. But here's what matters: we don't actually know what's happening in coalition talks. The AfD didn't respond to requests for comment about negotiations. So we're reading their public statements, which are deliberately hostile.
Mark
Why would they do that if they want to govern?
Mimi
Because their base expects it. Compromise is seen as betrayal within the party. And some of the leadership—particularly Weidel—might prefer to use a state government as a stepping stone to federal power rather than actually govern in Saxony-Anhalt.
Luke
Or they genuinely believe they can trigger such upheaval in the CDU that it collapses, and they'll win an outright majority next time. That's what Braga said their goal is.
Mark
Is that realistic?
Luke
The source doesn't say. We know the AfD is classified as right-wing extremist. We know it questions the legal equality of immigrants. We know it's attacking its only realistic partners. But whether that strategy actually works—whether the CDU actually collapses, whether new elections would give them a majority—that's still unknown.
Mimi
What we do know is that the party has internal tensions between pragmatists and fundamentalists. If they can't form a government, those tensions will explode.
Mark
And if they do form a government?
Mimi
Then they'll have to actually govern. And that's a different test entirely.
Il Polso
- The AfD fell just short of an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt, leaving it powerful enough to block others but not powerful enough to rule — a position it seems unwilling to resolve through compromise.
- Party leaders extended a symbolic hand to coalition partners on election night, then immediately withdrew it, declaring there would be 'no compromises' — a contradiction that reveals the party's governing philosophy more than any policy platform.
- The AfD has openly named the CDU's political 'destruction' as a strategic goal, making a coalition with its most realistic partner feel less like a negotiation and more like a trap.
- The BSW, a potential kingmaker, has signaled openness to talks, but AfD figures have already responded with ethnic slurs and dismissals, closing the door before it was fully opened.
- If no coalition forms, the AfD's parliamentary leader has suggested simply calling new elections — a gamble that exposes a deepening rift between the party's ideological purists and those who want to actually govern.
In Saxony-Anhalt, Germany's far-right AfD has won nearly 44 percent of the vote — enough to reshape the political landscape, but not enough to govern alone. The party now stands at a crossroads familiar to movements built on purity: the moment when ideological intransigence meets the practical demands of power. Rather than reaching toward coalition, the AfD appears to be using its near-majority as a weapon, targeting potential partners for destruction rather than cooperation, and betting that upheaval itself is a form of victory.
The AfD's near-majority in Saxony-Anhalt — nearly 44 percent — has placed the party in a position it was not built to occupy: the threshold of power, with no clear path through it. The party's identity rests on rejecting compromise as weakness, yet governing a German state requires exactly that. On election night, lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund extended what he called a democratic hand to other parties — then immediately clarified there would be no bending, no concessions. Scholars who study the party note this is not contradiction but doctrine: the AfD operates from the belief that a single correct popular will exists, and to compromise is to admit that other legitimate paths do as well.
The party's agenda in Saxony-Anhalt — compulsory work for asylum-seekers, citizen migration patrols, elimination of civic engagement funding — leaves little room for negotiation. Its long-standing practice of labeling all other parties 'cartel parties' has only intensified since the vote. The two most realistic coalition partners, the center-right CDU and the left-populist BSW, have both been met with hostility. Co-leader Alice Weidel declared the CDU incapable of ever winning another federal election; strategist Torben Braga described the party's goal as either governing alone or watching rivals collapse under pressure. The AfD is not seeking partners — it is waiting for opponents to disintegrate.
The BSW, entering the Saxony-Anhalt parliament for the first time, has shown willingness to talk. Yet AfD figures responded with ethnic insults toward a BSW politician and dismissed the party as the 'latest cartel.' The message is consistent: no coalition is genuinely wanted. Parliamentary leader Oliver Kirchner has said plainly that if no government forms, new elections will simply be called — a gamble that reveals the party's deeper bet on continued radicalization over incremental governance.
This posture creates real internal strain. Federal ambitions, particularly co-leader Weidel's stated goal of becoming chancellor, depend on demonstrating that the AfD can actually lead a government. The divide between pragmatists who want power and fundamentalists who want purity may soon force a choice the party has spent years avoiding. Classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by Saxony-Anhalt security authorities, the AfD remains, for now, committed to its course — whether or not that course leads anywhere it can govern.
The Alternative for Germany, the far-right AfD, won nearly 44 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, falling just short of the absolute majority that would have allowed it to govern alone. That narrow miss has exposed a fundamental tension at the heart of the party's political project: it has built its identity on rejecting compromise, yet it now faces the practical necessity of finding coalition partners if it wants to hold power.
From the moment the results came in, the AfD made its preference clear. Ulrich Siegmund, the party's lead candidate and emerging star, struck a conciliatory note on election night, extending what he called a democratic hand to other parties willing to pursue "a fundamental change of course." Within moments, however, he added a qualifier that revealed the party's actual position: "There will be no bending on my part, no compromises." This is not rhetorical flourish. Within the AfD, compromise is routinely framed as weakness or betrayal. According to Teresa Haussmann, a University of Potsdam scholar who studies populist movements, the party operates from a premise that a single, clearly identifiable popular will exists, and therefore only one correct political course can follow. To acknowledge compromise would be to admit that more than one legitimate path exists—a concession the party's ideology cannot accommodate.
The AfD's stated agenda in Saxony-Anhalt includes compulsory work schemes for asylum-seekers, citizen patrols to monitor migration-related issues, and the elimination of all public funding for democracy and civic engagement programs. The party has long dismissed all other German political forces as "cartel parties," effectively grouping them with criminal organizations. This rhetorical wall has only hardened since election night. Senior AfD figures have returned to their campaign posture of attacking the very parties that might realistically govern with them.
The most obvious potential coalition partners are the center-right Christian Democrats, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and the newer Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, a left-wing populist party founded by former Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht. Yet the AfD has trained its fiercest rhetoric on both. Alice Weidel, the party's co-leader, declared immediately after the election that "the CDU/CSU will never be able to win another federal election. That's a fact." The party has also described the CDU's "destruction" as a political objective. Torben Braga, a prominent AfD lawyer and party strategist, explained during a panel discussion that the AfD aims to become strong enough either to govern alone or to trigger such upheaval within rival parties that they are transformed into entirely new political forces. The strategy, in other words, is not to work with the CDU but to watch it decline while attracting its disillusioned voters.
The BSW, which entered the Saxony-Anhalt parliament for the first time and could serve as kingmaker, has signaled openness to talks. The two parties share common ground on policy. Yet even here, the AfD has turned hostile. Oliver Kirchner, the AfD's parliamentary group leader, referred to BSW politician Fabio De Masi as a "half-Italian" on the far-right online channel Compact TV, suggesting the BSW could not be trusted as a governing partner. Björn Höcke, the influential AfD leader in Thuringia, dismissed the BSW as the "latest cartel party." The signals are unmistakable: the party shows no willingness to compromise and no genuine desire for rapprochement.
What happens if the AfD cannot form a government? Kirchner offered a blunt answer: "Then we'll simply have to hold another election." That prospect, however, may not appeal to everyone in the party. At the federal level, there is strong interest in seeing the AfD lead a state government, particularly among co-leader Weidel, who views such a position as a stepping stone toward her ambition of becoming chancellor. The party faces considerable internal tension between its fundamentalist and pragmatic wings—a divide that could widen if the choice becomes real: compromise principles to hold power, or trigger new elections in hopes of winning an outright majority.
The AfD is classified by Saxony-Anhalt security authorities as a "confirmed right-wing extremist" organization, primarily because it questions the legal equality of Germans with an immigrant background. Even if the party were to succeed in forming a coalition, Haussmann observed, that fact alone would not make it a more democratic party. For now, the AfD appears determined to stay its course, pursuing its radical agenda regardless of whether it can actually govern.
Citazioni salienti
There will be no bending on my part, no compromises.— Ulrich Siegmund, AfD lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt
The CDU/CSU will never be able to win another federal election. That's a fact.— Alice Weidel, AfD co-leader
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Politics & Governance