AfD Advances, Parties Reject Coalitions
20h
The far-right AfD gained ground in German regional politics, making significant poll advances in North Rhine-Westphalia and prompting cautious engagement but coalition exclusion in Saxony-Anhalt, parties said.
"...the basic fact remains that only a party that wins fifty percent plus one is entitled to hold power. For another way of reading the result is that a clear majority opted against the far right – ... in light of the fact that other parties had warned of the AfD as a danger to democracy."
Is Germany’s Firewall Collapsing?
Jan-Werner Mueller explains how—and how not—to interpret the far right’s recent victories in state elections.
www.project-syndicate.org
September 22, 2026 at 2:59 PM
"...the basic fact remains that only a party that wins fifty percent plus one is entitled to hold power. For another way of reading the result is that a clear majority opted against the far right – ... in light of the fact that other parties had warned of the AfD as a danger to democracy."