Party leaders declare election victory in Germany’s Thuringia, Saxony historic victory

Co-leaders of "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) right-wing party Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have announced that the election results for the Landtag (state parliament) in the German federal states of Thuringia and Saxony marked a historic victory for the right-wing party "Alternative for Germany" (AfD).

They made these remarks during a broadcast on ZDF television, Caliber.Az reports.

"Today is truly a historic day in Thuringia, and we have achieved a very strong result in Saxony. We have a clear lead in Thuringia, with more than a 10 percentage point advantage. Therefore, we also have a clear mandate to govern," Chrupalla stated.

He noted that voters want to see political changes in both Saxony and Thuringia.

"If anyone wants to conduct a credible policy and take the will of the voters into account, then there will be no politics without the AfD," he asserted. 

Weidel added that this is a requiem for the ruling "Traffic Light" coalition in Germany (comprising the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP)).

"Now the 'Traffic Light' coalition will have to ask themselves whether they can even continue governing the country. Without the 'Alternative for Germany,' a stable government would be impossible," she claimed. 

According to an exit poll released by ARD television after the polling stations closed, the AfD is leading in the Thuringia Landtag elections with 30.5 per cent of the vote.

Germany’s far-right AfD won a landmark first regional vote on September 1 in the former East German state of Thuringia, exit polls showed, in a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz ahead of national elections in 2025. According to exit polls, the conservative CDU ranks second at around 24.5 per cent. The AfD was also neck-and-neck with the CDU for first place in the neighbouring state of Saxony, which also held a regional election on September 1, the polls showed. The AfD is unlikely to come to power in either state because other parties have ruled out working with the far right to form a government.