AfD at 42% in Saxony-Anhalt poll as Ramelow urges Linke-CDU cooperation to block AfD government

Ramelow urges Linke-CDU cooperation

Bodo Ramelow, former Minister-President of Thuringia and current Vice President of the Bundestag, has called for cooperation between the Left (Linke) and CDU to prevent an AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt. Speaking to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND), Ramelow said the CDU was dithering rather than committing to joint work on shared issues. In Thuringia, Linke and CDU have cooperated for years because all parties refuse to work with the AfD, a model Ramelow now points to for Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD is classified as confirmed right-wing extremist.

Whoever wants to avert harm from the state of Saxony-Anhalt must be able to talk to each other across party boundaries. It is the CDU that is dithering, instead of saying: we will work together on issues where we can cooperate.

AfD leads at 42 percent in new poll

A new Insa poll commissioned by Bild, conducted between July 31 and August 6 among 1,000 respondents, puts the AfD at 42 percent, up from 41 percent in a late-July Infratest dimap survey. The CDU dropped to 22 percent from 24 percent in the earlier poll. The Left stands at 13 percent, the SPD at 6 percent, and the BSW at 5 percent, clearing the 5-percent threshold for the first time. Greens and FDP each poll at 4 percent and would not enter parliament. The statistical margin of error is 3.1 percentage points. Combined, CDU, Linke and SPD reach 41 percent, still less than the AfD's 42 percent, meaning that with BSW abstention in a third parliamentary vote, AfD deputies could elect the minister-president on their own.

BSW positions itself as kingmaker

BSW top candidate Thomas Schulze sees his party as the decisive factor in who becomes minister-president. Schulze and BSW co-candidate Claudia Wittig have proposed a model of alternating majorities with a non-partisan minister-president to reduce polarization, and called for abolishing the firewall against cooperation with the AfD in areas such as education, nursing, energy, internal security, public broadcasting, and freedom of opinion. A BSW spokesperson said the party is open to "subject-related parliamentary cooperation" even with the AfD in those fields.

Only if the BSW enters the state parliament can the next term of the CDU minister-president be prevented. The AfD alone will not manage it.

BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has separately ruled out providing votes for CDU candidate Sven Schulze, stating that only with the BSW can there be majorities for a different policy in parliament.

AfD rejects compromise, aims for sole government

AfD top candidate Ulrich Siegmund rejected the BSW proposal outright, telling dpa that Saxony-Anhalt needs a stable government rather than alternating majorities. Siegmund continues to aim for an AfD sole government. AfD state chairman Martin Reichardt said that if the party reaches its target of an absolute majority, it will govern even if two of the three smallest parties fail to enter parliament.

I don't think much of that at all, because we do need a stable government in this state.

Ramelow distances himself from party co-leader

Ramelow also distanced himself from comments by Linke co-leader Ines Schwerdtner, who told Stern that a Berlin Linke in government would pursue socializations of housing companies. Ramelow said party leaders should be restrained on state-political matters before elections, calling her statement on expropriating housing companies as a coalition condition in Berlin "not very helpful." Co-leader Luigi Pantisano told SPIEGEL that there is still time before the September election and that the party wants to prevent the AfD from becoming too strong. Linke parliamentary group leader Heidi Reichinnek, whose strategy appeals primarily to young women in cities, could face difficulties with that approach in the Saxony-Anhalt vote.