It is 6 p.m. The polling stations in the 218 municipalities of Saxony-Anhalt are closing. 1.8 million people were called on Sunday to cast their ballot. And you have decided! The pressure on the champagne corks is increasing: because, as the projections confirm, a clear winner is already certain on this early Sunday evening.
It is the CDU that has every reason to celebrate. Top candidate Reiner Haseloff (67) is confirmed in his office. The physicist from Bülzig has headed the Magdeburg state parliament for ten years. Now he has been re-elected with a surprisingly positive majority of presumably just under 36 percentage points. In the last state election in 2016, his party only achieved 29.8 percent. “I am overjoyed and am pleased with this trust,” commented the incumbent Prime Minister on the projections.
“Election victory also confirmation for Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet”
So the Christian Democrats remain by far the strongest force. Balm for the wounds of the federal CDU, which had to give up in the self-tearing duel of the chancellor candidates and in ongoing mask scandals. “The Union can still win elections,” cheers party colleague Friedrich Merz (65) and interprets Haseloff’s victory as confirmation of the CDU chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (60).
The feared head-to-head race with the right-wing populists did not materialize. The distance seems too great. Even the final count of the absent votes will not change the fact: Saxony-Anhalt has stopped the advance of the AfD! This remains the second strongest party in the state, but according to the forecast received 23 percent of the votes 1.3 percent fewer percentage points than in 2016. AfD federal spokesman Tino Chrupalla (46) still claims full-bodied: “The voters want a government made up of CDU and AfD . ” A coalition with the right? A no-go for the CDU. Reiner Haseloff also stays there.
The SPD and left-wing parties suffer painful losses
You can also form a coalition with smaller partners. For example with the tried and tested Kenya traffic light. Despite a drop in votes of over two percent, the red SPD could still remain in the running for the formation of a government with its 8.5 percent. Together with the Greens, who rose slightly by 6.5 percent (2016 it was 5.2 percent). But Jamaica would also work. After ten years, the yellow FDP with a forecast of 6.8 percent makes the leap back into the state parliament and could rule with the blacks and the greens.
In third place is the Left Party, which is increasingly making heavy losses in its former political home. Only eleven percent are likely to vote for the party, over 5 percent less than five years ago. Free voters have to stay outside. They were only able to convince 3 percent of the electorate.