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[text/observer network chen sijia] according to a report by german tv ii on september 1, preliminary statistics show that in the state parliamentary election held in thuringia, eastern germany on september 1, the right-wing party alternative for germany (afd) won the most votes and became the largest party in the state parliament. this is the first time that the afd has won a local election in germany since its establishment.

the report said that the afd received 32.8% of the votes, far ahead of the christian democratic union (cdu) with 23.6%. the emerging left-wing party "sarah wagenknecht alliance - reason and justice party" (bsw) ranked third with 15.8% of the votes, while the left party (die linke) of the current thuringia governor bodo ramelov received 13.1% of the votes.

all three parties in germany's ruling coalition suffered defeat in the thuringia state election, with chancellor scholz's social democratic party (spd) winning just 6.1% of the vote. the greens and the free democratic party both won less than 5% of the vote and were unable to enter the state parliament.

but german tv 2 pointed out that since other parties refused to form an alliance with the afd, even if the afd won in thuringia, it might not be able to take power. however, as long as the afd could occupy one-third of the seats in the state parliament, it would be able to exert significant influence, including blocking the passage of new bills or the appointment of new officials.

the financial times of the united kingdom commented that without the participation of the afd, it might be difficult for other parties to form a state government. for example, if the cdu wants to govern in thuringia, it may need to cooperate with the sarah wagenknecht alliance, which opposes aid to ukraine, and this option is difficult for many center-right members of the cdu who support aid to ukraine to accept.

the neighboring state of saxony also held a state parliamentary election on september 1, local time. forecasts show that the afd and the cdu are evenly matched in saxony, with the cdu expected to win with 31.9% of the votes and the afd in second place with 30.6%.

german media said that the current cdu governor of saxony, michael kretschmer, had previously stated that regardless of the election results, the cdu plans to form a coalition through negotiations.

tino krupala, co-chairman of the german choice party, described the election results in thuringia as "sensational". he said: "one thing is clear: whether in saxony or thuringia, the will of the voters is that there should be political reform. if you want to conduct credible politics, you can't do it without the support of the choice party."

alice weidel, leader of the choice party, called it a "requiem for the ruling coalition." "the ruling coalition should ask itself whether they can continue to govern... voters want the choice party to enter the government. without us, there can be no stable government."

however, the victory of the afd in thuringia has also raised concerns about "extremism" in german politics. the leader of the afd in thuringia, björn hecke, is a controversial figure who once called the monument commemorating the holocaust of european jews by nazi germany a "monument of shame" and used nazi slogans at a party rally earlier this year.

this is the first time that the alternative for germany has won a local election in germany since its founding in 2013. the financial times believes that this result reflects the disappointment of voters in eastern germany with the berlin government. they are dissatisfied with high inflation, economic stagnation, soaring energy costs, endless infighting, and the development gap between the east and the west after the reunification of germany.

in addition, the german choice party and the sarah wagenknecht alliance have similar positions on the russian-ukrainian conflict. both parties have severely criticized germany's sanctions on russia and its military assistance to ukraine, calling for an end to the conflict through negotiations. this proposition has won the support of voters in the east.

reuters also noted that a knife attack in the german city of solingen in north rhine-westphalia may have boosted the anti-immigrant alternative for germany party's momentum at the last minute.

on august 23, local time, a knife attack occurred at a celebration of the 650th anniversary of the founding of solingen, killing three people. german media quoted prosecutors as saying that the murderer was a man from syria who came to germany at the end of 2022 and applied for asylum, but was rejected. the murderer is also suspected of having links with the extremist organization "islamic state".

the incident has triggered criticism from german citizens and politicians on the government's immigration policy. on august 28, the leader of the alternative party, weidel, said at a campaign event in dresden, the capital of saxony: "we want to end the situation of government failure and loss of control, which can only be achieved through sustainable reforms to immigration and asylum policies."

as the state elections are seen as a preview of next year's german federal elections, the results of the election on the 1st were "disastrous" for the ruling coalition led by german chancellor olaf scholz. the bbc pointed out that scholz's ruling coalition is facing "big trouble" and most germans believe that this coalition, which is constantly infighting, cannot win again.

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