Votes after the Saxony election: Kretschmer “sensational” – Lang complains about “enemy image of the Greens”

Votes after the Saxony election
Kretschmer “sensational” – Lang complains about “enemy image of the Greens”

01.09.2024, 19:36

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In the state elections in Saxony, the CDU and AfD are in a neck-and-neck race for the top position. Prime Minister Kretschmer will form a “stable government”. AfD leader Tino Chrupalla, on the other hand, believes the time has come for a change in policy.

According to the first projections, the CDU won the state election in Saxony – but only just ahead of the AfD. The Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, who have governed Saxony alone or in coalitions since 1990, received 31.6 and 31.7 percent respectively, according to projections by ARD and ZDF. The AfD was just behind with 30.4 percent and 31.4 percent respectively. The Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) coalition, which was running for the first time, came in third place straight away. The ZDF projections put the party at 11.4 percent, while ARD put it at 12 percent. The SPD thus achieved 7.8 to 8.2 percent. According to projections, the Greens were at 5.3 to 5.5 percent. The Saxon Left suffered German losses and failed to clear the five percent hurdle with 4.0 to 4.3 percent.

Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer After the possible narrow victory of his CDU in the state elections, he sees the basis for coalition negotiations on a “stable government,” said Kretschmer. “The people here in Saxony trusted us – they did not vote in protest.” The CDU has been the rock in the coalition in recent years. People are disappointed with politics in Berlin, said Kretschmer. “We are ready to continue to take on responsibility.”

“Michael Kretschmer is outstanding,” he said CDU General Secretary Carsten LinnemannIn his view, coalition negotiations will be difficult because of the strength of the AfD.

AfD leader Tino Chrupalla explained that a “very strong result” had been achieved in Saxony. “The will of the voters is a change in policy in Saxony and Thuringia.” They are willing to talk to all other parties.

The Saxon AfD top candidate Jörg Urban is open to talks with all parties that want to talk to the AfD after the state elections in Saxony. “We are open to talks,” said Urban. “We want political change in Saxony. To achieve this, we are prepared to talk to any party that wants that.” The people of Saxony do not want left-green politics. “That is very clear. That was already evident in 2019,” said Urban.

Green Party leader Omid Nouripour was relieved to have been re-elected to the state parliament in Saxony. There was an opportunity to continue the current coalition, said Nouripour. His co-leader Ricarda Lang accused Kretschmer of having cultivated the “enemy image of the Greens” during the election campaign. “If people keep setting up an opposition and expressing prejudices, then democrats are sawing off the branch they are sitting on. And that branch is democratic culture.”

Die Saxon SPD top candidate Petra Köpping is positively surprised by her party's performance in the election in Saxony. “I am of course just as happy as you are that we have conducted this really tough election campaign over the last few months, I would almost say years – because we didn't start it on January 1st, but carried it out over five years – that we have performed so well in all forecasts,” she said at her party's election party. She referred to polls in January in which the SPD was still at around three percent.

The Saxon BSW regional association does not want to form a coalition with the AfD after the election. “We clearly rule out a coalition with the AfD,” said the Saxon BSW top candidate Sabine Zimmermann on ZDF. Instead, the party also looked to the Christian Democrats. “We will see how the CDU decides whether they want to continue with the Greens and the SPD, in which case everything will stay as it is – or whether they seek talks with the BSW.” Then the party could change something.