The elections in the East are redrawing the political map.
The expected shift to the right was confirmed in the state elections in Thuringia and Saxony. According to initial trends, the AfD received around a third of the votes in both states. The final results were not yet available at the time of going to press for this issue.
The Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) coalition performed surprisingly well – and received double-digit shares straight away. This means it could even co-govern in Erfurt and Dresden. The state elections ended in disaster for the three traffic light parties. They only received single-digit shares of the vote. For the Greens, the evening was a nail-biter. Because of the five percent hurdle, they had to fear for their return to parliament. The FDP was clearly out.
In Thuringia, the red-red-green minority government is history. The Left Party suffered a dramatic fall. CDU leader Mario Voigt will replace Bodo Ramelow (The Left) as Prime Minister. Even with a good result for his party, forming a government in Erfurt will probably be difficult. In Saxony, Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is likely to lead the government even after the election. But choosing a partner will also be complicated for him.
The state elections were watched with excitement across the country. In Thuringia, there was a high voter turnout. By 2 p.m., around 44.4 percent of those eligible had cast their vote at the polling station, the state election officer announced – two percentage points more than in 2019. In addition, given the trend in recent years, a higher proportion of postal voters was expected.
In Saxony, around 35.4 percent of voters had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. In 2019, turnout at this time was 35.1 percent. Karin Dalka
Reports pages 2/3, editorial page 11
