Thuringia’s Interior Minister, Georg Maier (SPD), has warned of a potential “state coup” due to the surging popularity of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt. This warning follows the announcement by AfD top candidate Ulrich Siegmund that, should the party achieve governing power, they intend to replace between 150 and 200 positions within the state administration.
Maier stated to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that the AfD’s plans fundamentally contradict established laws. He emphasized that public service law does not permit the indiscriminate replacement of civil servants. Instead, staff appointments must follow a rigorous selection process based on clearly defined qualification profiles. Furthermore, officials are required to maintain absolute loyalty to the constitution. They must not only conduct themselves in a manner professing commitment to the liberal democratic basic order but must also actively champion its preservation.
Maier added that it is obvious that functionaries belonging to the AfD’s regional chapter in Saxony-Anhalt-a group classified as right-wing extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution-would not meet this constitutional requirement. He cautioned that if the AfD were to disregard these established principles of German civil service, the resulting situation would carry the hallmarks of a state coup.
Echoing this concern, Irene Mihalic, the group parliamentary coordinator for the Green Party in the Bundestag, told the RND that “every democrat must understand the AfD’s plans as a threat to the constitutional order”. She argued that anyone could observe what the implications would be in countries governed autocratically-a model the AfD seems greatly attracted to. She concluded that these measures would not benefit the state or its citizens, but would only serve to maintain the AfD’s grip on power. For her, the only appropriate consequence is ensuring the AfD is prevented from coming near a position of governing majority if one values the country and its freedoms.
Siegmund had previously told the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” that if the AfD took over a government, positions could be filled in the state administration as well as in state-owned corporations. These planned replacements are understood to cover not only ministerial posts, state secretaries, and their offices, but also leadership roles at the operational level and management positions in other state entities. This rhetoric follows polling data from the Infratest Institute, which showed the AfD achieving 41 percent support in Saxony-Anhalt, thereby moving closer to an absolute majority in the state parliament.
