AfD has ‘made history’ in Saxony-Anhalt, says lead candidate Siegmund

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has “made history” in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund said on Sunday after exit polls showed the far-right party securing 44% of the vote.

“We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve,” Siegmund said after the first exit polls were announced by broadcaster ARD. “We have made history in this state.”

Siegmund is hoping to become the AfD’s first premier of one of Germany’s 16 federal states, but the exit polls suggest the party has narrowly missed securing an absolute majority in the state parliament in Magdeburg.

Siegmund, who became a political sensation on the campaign trail in Saxony-Anhalt, said he wanted to extend a hand to all parties willing to bring about a fundamental political transformation in the state. However, the AfD will not bend to other parties’ will, he stressed.

The AfD has never participated in a ruling coalition in Germany’s 16 states or its federal government, as all other mainstream parties refuse to work with it, a policy infamously known as the “firewall.”