A growing internal dispute within Germany’s governing centre-right CDU is threatening to complicate efforts to form a government in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, as the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) maintains a commanding lead ahead of Sunday’s state election.
At a CDU district executive meeting in Harz on Tuesday evening, members submitted a motion rejecting any form of government that would depend on the support of the far-left Die Linke.
The proposal opposed coalitions, confidence-and-supply arrangements, and other models under which a CDU-led government would require Die Linke’s approval to pass budgets or legislation.
The motion was not put to a vote after district chairman Ulrich Thomas blocked it, saying it had been presented too late for him to consider properly. He nevertheless told Die Welt that he opposed cooperation with Die Linke. The district executive is now expected to vote on the proposal next week, after the election.
Alexander Räuscher, a CDU state parliamentarian who attended the meeting, went further, saying there should be “no cooperation with Die Linke, now or in the future.” He criticised the governing arrangements in Saxony and Thuringia, where CDU-led minority governments have relied on the votes of the far-left.
The dispute comes after CDU leader and Chancellor Friedrich Merz said earlier this week that neither the AfD nor Die Linke could be a partner in a coalition government. However, he pointed to Saxony and Thuringia as examples of how a CDU minority government could operate without formally including Die Linke.
That distinction has fuelled speculation that Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Sven Schulze could attempt to remain in office after Sunday’s vote through a minority government reliant on the support of Die Linke if the CDU cannot assemble a majority elsewhere.
The latest poll, published on Wednesday, puts the AfD at 43%, 21 percentage points ahead of the CDU at 22%. Die Linke is at 12%, followed by the Social Democrats (SPD) who have a 7% support, and the Greens polling at 5%.
Sonntagsfrage zur Landtagswahl in Sachsen-Anhalt • INSA/NIUS: AfD 43 % | CDU 22 % | DIE LINKE 12 % | SPD 7 % | GRÜNE 5 % | BSW 4 % | FDP 3 % | Sonstige 4 %
— Wahlrecht.de (@Wahlrecht_de) September 2, 2026
➤ Verlauf: https://t.co/lMOn56cNLK
🗓️ Landtagswahl: 6. September 2026 #ltwlsa #ltwst pic.twitter.com/hGqge7h7ea
If it gains a majority in the state parliament, the AfD could form a government on its own, giving the party its first state government in Germany. A coalition would be out of the question as the other parties refuse to cooperate with the right-wing party.
Another scenario would be for the second-largest party, namely the CDU, to build a government including the SPD and the Greens, as well as cooperating with Die Linke in some shape or form.
Alexander Räuscher warned that if the CDU could govern only with Die Linke or the AfD, it should accept moving into opposition. “If the AfD gets the most votes, then the voters have given the AfD the mandate to form a government,” he said.
AfD MP Markus Frohnmaier accused the chancellor of effectively endorsing a Die Linke-backed minority government. He told voters “Everyone in the state must know: either you give our AfD an absolute majority on Sunday, or the left-wing[-generated] decline will continue even more drastically,” he wrote on X.
Jetzt ist es raus: Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz bezeichnet das Modell Thüringen gerade als Vorbild für die CDU in Sachsen-Anhalt! Um die AfD zu verhindern, empfiehlt er eine Minderheitsregierung mit der Linkspartei.
— Markus Frohnmaier (@Frohnmaier_AfD) September 2, 2026
Jeder im Land muss also wissen: Entweder, ihr gebt unserer AfD…
