Just under four weeks before the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has said that, in one specific scenario, her party would clear the way for a state premier from the AfD if it wins seats in the state parliament.
"Our election goal is to vote the CDU incumbent out of office and replace him with a non-partisan state premier who governs with a cabinet of experts and shifting majorities. That means: with the AfD as well," Wagenknecht told the Wednesday edition of the newspaper "Bild". Should the other parties reject this model, "we will abstain in the third round of voting," Wagenknecht said, referring to the election of a state premier in the state parliament.
According to a current Insa poll, the AfD would presently take 42 percent in Saxony-Anhalt. The BSW would receive five percent of the vote. The CDU, the Left Party and the SPD would together reach 41 percent. If the BSW were to abstain in the third round of voting for state premier on such a result, an AfD candidate could theoretically become head of government with a simple majority of votes.
"It is simply completely undemocratic to permanently exclude a party that is voted for by around 40 percent of voters," Wagenknecht said with regard to the AfD. "The firewall has failed."
The AfD is aiming to govern alone after the Saxony-Anhalt state election on 6 September and wants to provide a state premier for the first time in Germany. This depends, among other things, on how many parties enter parliament in total, and how they then act in the election of the state premier.
The lead candidates of seven parties will face questions from members of the public on Wednesday evening on Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR). Alongside Saxony-Anhalt's state premier Sven Schulze (CDU), his AfD rival Ulrich Siegmund will also answer live questions from the audience.
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