AfD’s Saxony-Anhalt Win Raises Policy Risk for Germany’s Digital Economy

The far-right Alternative for Germany has won a decisive first-place finish in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, according to preliminary official results, but the vote has produced no clear governing majority. For Germany’s digital economy, the result adds a fresh layer of political uncertainty in an eastern state where future decisions on energy costs, public investment, business policy and administrative stability could shape the environment for payments providers, digital banks, cybersecurity contractors and technology companies.

After ballots from all polling stations were counted in the election held on September 6, AfD received 43.8 percent of the vote, with results published overnight into Sunday, September 7. The party’s candidate for state premier is 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund. AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla has already said Siegmund will put himself forward for the post.

The Christian Democratic Union, the party of incumbent state premier Sven Schulze, won 17.2 percent, almost half its result in the previous election. The Social Democratic Party received 9.3 percent, the Greens 8.9 percent and the Left Party 8.6 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance also entered the state parliament with 5.3 percent. The Free Democratic Party and other parties failed to clear the five percent threshold. Turnout was 77.8 percent.

Under the preliminary allocation of the 83 seats in the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag, AfD will hold 39 mandates, the CDU 15, the Left Party, Greens and SPD eight each, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance five. That leaves AfD short of a majority but by far the dominant bloc in parliament, giving smaller parties an outsized role in determining whether the state can form a stable government.

Coalition Uncertainty Meets Business Policy Risk

The immediate question is whether AfD can find a governing partner. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance is the only party represented in the new state parliament that has signaled openness to talks with AfD. Thomas Schulze, the alliance’s lead candidate, said after the election that his party was prepared to speak with all parties.

“We stated that we would hold talks with all parties. That includes AfD,” Thomas Schulze told dpa.

He added that the alliance was not interested in a political “firewall” and would negotiate with all parties. Asked about areas of overlap with AfD, Schulze pointed above all to Russia policy, saying both reject sanctions that, in his words, are destroying the economy. Both parties also support what they describe as affordable energy, including the resumption of oil and gas supplies from Russia.

That emphasis matters for companies exposed to power prices, infrastructure spending and geopolitical risk. Saxony-Anhalt’s political debate now includes direct questions about sanctions, Russian energy supplies and the cost base for industry. For fintech and tech companies, those issues translate into a broader risk map: data centers and digital infrastructure are energy-intensive, cybersecurity procurement often depends on public-sector priorities, and digital banking and payment firms track regional economic confidence closely.

At the same time, dpa noted that several AfD positions are incompatible with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance’s stance. Thomas Schulze said AfD’s education policy was completely unsuitable for his party and that the two sides were very far apart on that issue. He also said his alliance takes a much more socially oriented position on the economy. The alliance has proposed a non-partisan state premier who would govern with changing parliamentary majorities involving AfD.

Siegmund rejected that idea and said AfD would not abandon its values and goals for political games, according to Reuters. He ruled out coalitions requiring major compromises, saying the party wanted voters to finally receive after elections what they had voted for. He said cooperation was possible only with those who supported AfD’s demand for a clear change of political course in the state, whether through a parliamentary group or individual lawmakers. Chrupalla, speaking on ARD, said AfD was prepared to compromise in talks with other parties, including on migration and economic policy, provided they accepted a change of course.

CDU Collapse Changes The Parliamentary Map

The CDU’s defeat was broad and unusually stark. Sven Schulze lost not only statewide but also in his own electoral district in Magdeburg. With 31.7 percent, he was beaten by AfD candidate Christian Mertens, who won 35.2 percent. Schulze became state premier in early 2025; before that he served as economy minister and as a member of the European Parliament.

CDU candidates failed to win a single direct mandate. They lost in all 41 constituencies. AfD candidates won 38 constituencies, including Ulrich Siegmund in Genthin. Only in the major cities of Magdeburg and Halle did AfD fail to achieve a convincing victory. In the 2021 state election, the CDU won direct mandates in 40 of 41 constituencies, while AfD won one.

The outgoing state coalition of the CDU, SPD and FDP suffered a crushing defeat. Apart from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, no party entering the new parliament has indicated any intention to join a coalition with AfD.

That leaves complicated alternatives. A possible minority government made up of the CDU, SPD and Greens, with full support from the Left Party, would have 40 seats, just ahead of AfD’s 39. In that configuration, the five lawmakers from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance could become decisive.

Yet Schulze repeatedly said before the election that he did not want to depend on either the right or the left. There is also resistance inside the CDU to any cooperation with the Left Party. If Schulze were nominated again for state premier, dissenters could emerge within his own ranks. CDU state parliament member Eva Feußner has already warned in comments to Stern that if there were attempts to cooperate with the left, entire local party branches would unanimously leave the party.

For digital-economy investors and operators, the result does not immediately rewrite regulation, but it does raise the premium on political stability. Payment networks, crypto firms, digital banks and cybersecurity providers depend on predictable public administration, procurement policy and economic planning. Saxony-Anhalt’s election has produced a clear winner, but not yet a clear governing path.