The far-right Alternative for Germany party posted a leading result in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday, according to exit polls that projected a substantial margin over rival parties.
Party leaders celebrated the projected outcome, which would rank among the strongest state-level performances the AfD has recorded. The result places the party ahead of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union in the eastern German state.
The vote is widely read as a test of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government, which has sought to reduce the AfD’s support since taking office. Efforts to draw voters away from the party have shown limited effect in the eastern regions, where the AfD has built its strongest base.
The AfD has drawn scrutiny from Germany’s domestic intelligence service and faces political isolation from mainstream parties, which have refused to enter coalitions with it. Despite that firewall, the party has expanded its share of the vote across several state contests.
Saxony-Anhalt, a state of roughly 2.1 million people in the former East Germany, has become a focal point for the AfD’s growth. Earlier BeijingTimes reporting detailed how the party doubled the CDU’s result in the state, a margin that reshaped local political calculations.
The projected win adds pressure on Merz, whose coalition has struggled to contain the AfD’s momentum ahead of further regional and national contests. Mainstream parties now face renewed questions over coalition arithmetic in a state where forming a government without the AfD grows more difficult.
Official final results are expected to follow the exit poll projections in the coming days, with seat allocations to be confirmed once counting concludes.