CDU after election in Saxony-Anhalt: “The government mandate now lies with the AfD”

afp/dpa/rtr | CDU leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced the consequences of his party's defeat in the election in Saxony-Anhalt. Merz said on Monday in Berlin that he and the CDU were “deeply shocked” by the AfD’s high election victory. “This is the worst election defeat that the CDU has suffered in years, even decades.” It is clear that the CDU “cannot move on to the agenda”.

However, Merz reiterated the need for fundamental reforms in Germany. It’s “about nothing more than the future of our country and the opportunities of our children and grandchildren.” “We cannot gamble this away,” emphasized the CDU chairman. “That’s why my determination to continue the course of reform remains unbroken.”

But the reforms need to be better explained to people, said Merz. He knows that this is a “standard sentence” that is often used in politics. But it's no longer enough. “We must try, including myself, to reach people more effectively in all their emotionality,” emphasized the Chancellor. “We know that many people are afraid for their own future, for their economic foundation, for their social security.”

The AfD won the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday well ahead of the ruling CDU, but missed an absolute majority. The party, which the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as definitely right-wing extremist, was able to more than double its result to 43.8 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Sven Schulze's Christian Democrats only got 17.2 percent. Their value was thus halved.

Schulze has already announced consequences. “I ran there as the top candidate and will of course draw the appropriate conclusions from that,” said Schulze after meetings of his party’s top committees in Berlin. He announced that he would submit a proposal for the further procedure to the CDU state executive board in the evening. "We as the CDU no longer have a government mandate, we are the opposition. The government mandate now lies with the AfD," said Schulze.

He now wants to “direct all efforts to enable a new, better, (…) narrative, a better superstructure in the coalition together with the SPD, as to why we consider these reforms to be necessary and right,” said Merz. His party will discuss this again “intensively” in the next few days.