The State parliament of Saxony-Anhalt has approved a major reform of the eastern German state’s constitution — supposedly aimed at “strengthening democracy” ahead of a potential election victory by the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
The new rules give parliamentary groups greater power if they team up against the strongest party, allowing them to elect both a Landtag president and constitutional judges of their choice.
On April 24, all five parties in parliament except the AfD voted in favour of the changes. This included the conservative CDU of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, the Liberals (FDP), and the hard-left Die Linke party.
Die Linke is the successor organisation to the former East German communist Socialist Unity Party (SED).
SPD State MP Falko Grube said during the debate:
“Anyone who has no evil plans with this country has nothing to fear from this parliamentary reform.”
His colleague Guido Kosmehl (FDP) added, addressing the AfD directly:
“You’re talking about a landslide victory and think that if you are the largest parliamentary group, then you can and must get everything… no!”
AfD frontman Ulrich Siegmund told German media after the debate:
“Voters know how to interpret this. Namely, everyone else ganging up against the AfD. It is no longer about substantive political issues — such as how we can work together to move our country forward — but rather the question: How can we prevent the AfD from becoming a potentially powerful force? How can we make life difficult for them?”
The new regulations make it harder for the strongest party in parliament to exert influence over the election of both the president of the Landtag and State constitutional court judges.
Previously, only the biggest faction was allowed to nominate a candidate for the parliamentary presidency. Under the new law, if this candidate is not elected, other parties will also have the right to nominate candidates.
This would make it possible for the other parties to obtain a president of their choice if they vote against the strongest party’s candidate and then agree on a contender for the second round of voting.
Judges for the Saxony-Anhalt Constitutional Court until now needed to be voted in with a two-thirds majority in parliament — meaning that a party with more than a third of the seats could effectively block their election.
Under the new law, if an election is blocked, the Constitutional Court itself can nominate a candidate for the judgeship — who could then be voted into office with a simple majority.
This change allows the other parties to team up against the future strongest faction and vote judges into office against that faction’s wishes.
Saxony-Anhalt will hold State parliament elections on September 6, 2026.
Current polls put the AfD squarely in first place at 38 to 40 per cent –well ahead of the CDU, which is polling at around 25 per cent, and Die Linke, at 13 per cent.
Other parties are hovering close to, or below, the five-per-cent threshold necessary to enter parliament. In the latest polling, the SPD stood at 6 per cent, the Greens at 4 per cent and the FDP at 3 per cent, while the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which is not currently represented in the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag, was polling at around 5 per cent.
