Germany’s far-right AfD landslide winner in key Saxony-Anhalt vote, early results suggest

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into first place in state ​elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday but it was unclear whether it would be able to form a government on its own, according to exit polls after ​voting closed. The ‌AfD won 44.5 percent of the vote, with ⁠Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives on 18.5 percent, with the centre-left Social Democrats and environmental Greens both clearing the ‌minimum threshold to enter parliament, an exit poll on the ARD broadcaster ⁠showed. Read moreGermany: Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, the ideologist behind the AFD’s plans in Saxony-Anhalt The party’s co-leader Alice Weidel hailed an “historic” result which had given the AfD a clear mandate to govern but it was not ​immediately clear whether it would be able to ‌form a government. If the AfD is unable to rule outright, it could trigger a protracted process of coalition building by mainstream parties who are determined to keep ‌out of power a party investigated for right-wing extremism by Germany’s domestic intelligence service. The left-wing populist ​Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a potential AfD coalition partner, could also clear the threshold. While hard right par...