The candidate of the far-right “Alternative for Germany“ (AfD) for prime minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said that he does not expect his party to participate in the government despite its victory in yesterday's regional elections, DPA reported, BTA reported.
“I think we could govern. But it doesn't look like it will happen at the moment“, Leif-Erik Holm told NDR television.
All other parties have ruled out the possibility of cooperation with the AfD in line with the long-standing policy of refusing to interact with the far right, known in Germany as the “defensive wall“.
According to Holm, the most likely outcome at the moment is a three-way coalition between the center-left German Social Democratic Party (SPD), “The Left“ and “The Greens“. “This is definitely not a good direction for our state“, he said.
Holm reiterated his party's claim to govern, pointing out that voters had given the AfD a clear mandate. “That's why we expect the other parties to be ready to talk to us“, he added. Holm himself failed to win a direct mandate in Schwerin, where he lost to the state premier Manuela Schwesig of the SPD, and will not be a member of the local parliament.
If the AfD does not enter government, as expected, Holm said he would remain a member of the federal Bundestag. The AfD won the elections in the northeastern German state province with 38.2% of the vote, more than doubling its result from the elections five years ago.
The SPD came in second with 35.5%, the “Left“ received 6.5%, and the “Greens“ 5.7%, giving the three parties a majority in the state parliament. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) received only 4.9% of the vote, falling below the five percent threshold and failing to enter a German state parliament for the first time.