Glitch affects AfD

Result in Saxony corrected, AfD loses seat

Jörg Urban, leader of the AfD in Saxony

(Bild: AFP/Lisi Nieser)

The provisional result of the Saxon state election must be corrected. Due to a software error, an incorrect distribution of seats had been published, the state electoral administration announced on Monday morning.

This means that the Greens and the SPD will each receive one more seat, while the CDU and the AfD will each receive one less seat than initially stated. As a result of the recalculation, the AfD loses its so-called blocking minority in the state.

Blocking minority could prevent certain laws
Despite the change, the previous coalition of CDU, Greens and SPD still does not have a majority in the new state parliament. A blocking minority means that one party has more than a third of the seats in the state parliament. In this case, it can prevent certain state laws that are passed with a two-thirds majority of all MPs.

In Saxony, as in other federal states, constitutional judges and the head of the state court of auditors, for example, are elected by a two-thirds majority of all members of parliament. Certain posts could therefore not have been filled without AfD approval. It could also have prevented the state parliament from dissolving itself.

AfD now with 40 seats
According to the corrected result, the CDU has 41 seats, the AfD 40. The BSW has 15 seats, the SPD 10, the Greens 7. The Left Party has 6 seats, the independent voters 1 seat. There are a total of 120 seats in the Saxon state parliament.

Jörg Urban, leader of the AfD in Saxony

(Bild: AFP/Lisi Nieser)

According to the preliminary results, the CDU achieved 31.9 percent (2019: 32.1 percent). The AfD was close behind with 30.6% (27.5%). The BSW achieved 11.8% from a standing start. The SPD landed at 7.3% (7.7). The Left Party slipped dramatically to 4.5 percent (10.4). The Greens received 5.1 percent (8.6). With just 0.9% (4.5), the FDP once again missed out on entering the state parliament - as it did in the last two state elections.

BSW generally open to coalition with CDU
The left-wing populist alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) expressed its openness to a coalition with the CDU on Monday. "There are parallels, but there are also considerable differences," said Amira Mohamed Ali, co-chair of the BSW. Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) believes a coalition with the SPD and the BSW is possible in his state. "It won't be easy, it will take time, but it is possible," said Kretschmer.

Protests in Hamburg
Following the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, hundreds of people took to the streets in Hamburg on Sunday evening to protest against the AfD. Around 750 people set off from the Reesendammbrücke starting point under the slogan "Whether Thuringia or Hamburg: Not a footstep for the AfD!".

The demonstrators, who were against right-wing extremism, marched right up to the AfD party headquarters in Schmiedestraße in Hamburg. According to the police, the protest was "fairly relaxed".