The Social Democrats who have historically been strong in Brandenburg have managed to be the first force in the regional elections on Sunday, with 31.2% of the votes. It is a bittersweet victory for the SPD, which has achieved almost a technical draw with the extreme right, which has run out of reward. The ultra-right AfD party, with 29.8% of the votes, has become one of the strongest parties in the East. In early September, AfD also became the second political force in Saxony and won the presidential elections in Thuringia.

The government coalition of the "traffic light" led by the German Prime Minister, Scholz, has been hit by the results of Sunday's day. The results have confirmed the emergence of a new movement which, beyond the result of the extreme right, has strongly broken the country’s political map.

Presence of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance

The newly created left-wing populist movement for Reason and Justice, BSW Sahra Wagenknecht, has been the third force with 12.1% of the votes, and in early September it stood ahead of the ruling parties in Thuringia and Saxony. It is one of the symbolic victors of the presidential elections held in eastern Germany.

Wagenknech, born in the German Democratic Republic, began to militate young in left-wing movements. After the German union, several leftist movements in the country formed the leftist party Die Linke, which has for years been one of its most contentious representatives.

Statements in the European Parliament or in the German Parliament were often not in line with the official party line. In 2023 he left Die Linke and founded with other members of parliament the movement that bears his nickname. He has written for several attempts on the need to create a new movement. Among his best-known works are the Neoliberal Left or Harroputzak, my counter-program for sense and social cohesion. In addition to criticizing post-modernity, it has questioned the migratory or ecological policies that have been carried out in Germany.

French journalist Romaric Godin, a specialist in economics, has said that BSW has revealed its "conservative" face on some current issues. In his X-ray to the party, Wagenkenech cites the risk of certain speeches or proclamations that have been used in the last elections, including the will to “launch the translations of citizenship to end the growth of foreign criminality”.

On the contrary, in the program “The Base” run by Pablo Iglesias, they have recently reflected on the success of the movement. According to journalist Irene Zugasti, over and above the risky position of the movement towards migrants, she has been able to move to the plaza some issues that were not on the political agenda: It has claimed in the elections the need to strengthen them with considerably lower pensions in the eastern part of the country or has become a speaker of some of the demands of the primary sector. The fact that Germany is showing a favourable position towards Palestine, which is so difficult, can also influence the results obtained. For her part, journalist Ane Irazabal has spread on social media that current members of BSW and Die link have campaigned with T-shirts for the Israeli Army.

Victory of AfD

AfD was not the first force in Brandenburg and earlier in Saxony. On 4 September, however, he won in Thuringia, with Bjorn Hoc at the top of the list. He was convicted in 2019 twice in his hearings for using the cry “Alles für Deutschland” (all for Germany) of the Nazi paramilitary units SA.

The Hoc has not been the only controversy that the AfD party has had in its recent history. Before the European elections in June, the French National Union or the Italian Law (AfD), the strongest far-right alliance of the European Parliament, decided to be expelled from the AfD alliance. The reason was the statements by Maximilian Krah, one of the party leaders, in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. According to Karh, not all members of the Nazi SS units involved in the most important crimes of the Second World War can enter the "same bag".

Most of the parties have declared that a health cord will be applied so that the extreme right does not rule in Thuringia. But among polemics, with a powerful xenophobic speech against immigration and social aid, AfD is taking great strides forward. After several attempts at revitalization in several regions, AfD has a look at the general elections to be held next year. The TikTok social network has become an excellent tool for the ultras in this new objective, according to the German portal Deutsche Welle.

The war in Ukraine, the gap between East and West Germany

The electoral cycle in East Germany has once again highlighted the gap between East and West. Both AfD and BSW have strongly criticised the German Government’s position in the Ukrainian war. Both have been against imposing sanctions on Russia and sending arms to Ukraine via the Internet. After spectacular results, it can be thought that many Germans who were born in the east of the wall do not support some political decisions made by Scholz's cabinet in the face of the conflict.

In the absence of a year for the general elections and with the results in the hands of East Germany, Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, born in the West, is obliged to give a blow. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to obtain a parliamentary majority that will enable you to retain power.