Far-right AfD posts historic German state election win, exit polls show

BERLIN, Sept 6 - The far-right Alternative for Germany 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% of the vote, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives on 18.5%, 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.

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 immediate 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 parties have gained ground elsewhere in Europe, Germany's Nazi past has contributed to a reluctance among mainstream parties to cooperate with the AfD, which wants a hard line on migration and warmer ties with Russia.

The AfD, led in Saxony-Anhalt by the 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, sees accusations of extremism as scaremongering and an insult to its millions of supporters.

Sunday’s result is also another blow to the authority of Merz, whose popularity has sagged as his coalition government struggles to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy.

In a fracturing political landscape, the AfD is now Germany’s most popular party nationally, though other parties have ruled out forging coalitions with the AfD in a policy known as the "firewall". REUTERS