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In last weekend’s Thuringia state election, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the first far-right party to win a local parliamentary election in Germany since World War II, with forecasts late yesterday showing the AfD close behind the Conservatives in Saxony.
But the AfD, which is considered a “right-wing extremist” by security officials in two east German states, is unlikely to govern because other parties have so far refused to work with it to form a majority.
However, nationalist, anti-immigrant and pro-Russian parties could eventually gain enough seats in both states to block decisions that require a two-thirds majority, such as the appointment of judges or top security officials, giving them unprecedented powers.
“The AfD’s results in Saxony and Thuringia are worrying,” Scholz said in a statement to Reuters, explaining that he was speaking on behalf of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). “Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is hurting Germany. It weakens the economy, divides society and undermines the reputation of our country.”
With a year to go until Germany’s national election, Sunday’s results punished Scholz’s coalition.
All three ruling parties lost votes, and only his Social Democratic Party exceeded the 5% threshold needed to remain in two state parliaments.
“Sunday’s election result is bittersweet for us,” Scholz said, noting, however, that more dire predictions that the SPD could exit state parliament for the first time had not come true.
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