One week before the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, CDU leader Friedrich Merz cautioned voters against supporting the AfD, a party currently leading in polls and potentially holding the opportunity to achieve an absolute majority in the parliament. Speaking in an ARD summer interview, Merz warned that if the AfD won the election, it would not only jeopardize the state’s ability to govern but also cause “significant damage” to the economic development. He stated that international investors would be highly reluctant to settle new companies in Saxony-Anhalt under an AfD-led ministry.
When asked whether the CDU planned to pursue government formation despite a prior incompatibility ruling with the AfD, the chairman initially defered the discussion, citing the yet-to-be-known election results. He affirmed that they would “do everything to prevent Saxony-Anhalt from falling to the radicals,” encompassing both the AfD and Die Linke.
Merz also admitted that his earlier 2018 commitment to reducing the AfD’s strength by half was no longer attainable. He argued that much has changed since then, and the mistakes of past migration policies could only be corrected incrementally. He pointed to a success achieved by his own government in the area of migration policy: within 15 months, asylum numbers were significantly reduced by over 60%, although he acknowledged that this subject plays no major role in current campaign discussions.
