Social Democratic Party German (SPD), which has governed Brandenburg since 1990, will remain the leading political force in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, which borders Poland. In Sunday's elections to the regional parliament (Landtag), it won between 30.7 percent and 31.3 percent of the votes, according to forecasts from public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
However, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won slightly less, with 29.5 percent. It will probably not have a blocking minority in the state parliament.
SPD Bastion
The Social Democrats currently govern in Potsdam in coalition with the Christian Democrats and the Greens. According to initial forecasts, the Christian Democrats CDU achieved its worst result in history on Sunday – 12.1 percent of the vote and is behind the left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which is making its debut in these elections, which won 13.3 percent. The Greens are just below the electoral threshold (4.2 percent). The Left Party won 3 percent and the BVB/Free Voters 2.5 percent. However, thanks to the so-called basic mandate clause, these parties can also enter the state parliament if they win at least one direct mandate.
Germany and the Elections: Chasing the Far Right
AfD was slightly ahead until election day in polls. Popular prime minister Dietmar Woidke before elections he put everything on the line and announced that if his party lost to the AfD, he would retire. “It was a chase like we have never seen in the history of our state,” Woidke said on the SPD's election night. “Our goal from the beginning was that our state would not bear a big brown stamp,” he added.
The elections in the eastern German state were also closely watched at the federal level, as they could determine the political future of German Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz ahead of the 2025 Bundestag elections.
AfD: The East Belongs to Us
AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla assessed that his party had achieved a “very strong, excellent result” in Brandenburg and that in future it would no longer be able to be ignored by other forces. He admitted that the goal of sending Dietmar Woidke “into retirement” had not been achieved, but that the AfD had nevertheless made progress. AfD co-chair Alice Weidel also did not hide her satisfaction with the AfD's result in Brandenburg. She assessed that her party was the “winner of the evening” and remained the strongest force in eastern Germany.
Initial forecasts for the division of seats in the state parliament indicated that the SPD would be able to continue to govern together with the Christian Democrats and perhaps with the Greens, if the latter entered the regional parliament. All the main parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD.
2.1 million people were eligible to vote in the Brandenburg elections, including around 100,000 first-time voters. According to public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, voter turnout was between 73 and 74 percent, the highest ever.
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The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle.