Sven Schulze, the Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt and the CDU’s lead candidate for the upcoming state election this Sunday, has lowered expectations for his party’s performance. Speaking to the “Welt,” Schulze stated that it would be “presumptuous to say that we can achieve a record-breaking value right now.” For him, a successful result would be one that allows him to form a government capable of moving the state forward.
He ruled out the prospect of a coalition government involving the AfD or the Left party, though he did not rule out ongoing discussions with the latter. Currently, Schulze is not focusing on the demands of the Left party; instead, he is prioritizing his own agenda and requires sufficient majority to achieve it. Once in office, his focus would be on gaining support for his plans among members of the state parliament. He stressed that he would not be “dependent on either the left or the right.”
Furthermore, the CDU chief cautioned against viewing the mere prevention of an absolute AfD majority as a major victory, noting, “It is about much more.” While acknowledging that his party has received many positive responses to recent dialogues during the election campaign, Schulze argued that this approach must be reinforced outside of campaign periods as well. He pointed out that although the CDU is a large party, it needs to engage with the public much more strongly.
Schulze admitted to past mistakes made by his party. “In the past, perhaps we allowed too much room for the AfD to portray our state so negatively, as they constantly do.” He emphasized that communication should not be conceded to those who exclusively discuss what is going wrong and seek to pull the state back into problems of the past. He argued that the CDU is ill-advised to avoid certain issues simply because they do not immediately benefit the party’s electoral standing-a pattern he admitted was a mistake in the past.
The CDU state leader also directed criticism toward Federal Chancellor and CDU Chairman Friedrich Merz. He stated that, overall, the management of expectations in the past has “not always been the best.” Schulze added that this fact is known by the federal government and the Chancellor, though he believes that communication styles have improved since then.
