The AfD candidate for Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, stated Thursday that he is nearing an absolute majority based on recent poll results. While admitting he does not want to celebrate prematurely, Siegmund expressed great optimism that the party is poised to “make history”.
Siegmund emphasized that the AfD’s success will not merely come from the disappointment felt toward the Union or the SPD. He suggested that rather than simply benefiting from rivals’ losses, the party possesses its own strong platform. Addressing the major political contenders, he dismissed attempts to claim that opposition candidates are flawless, comparing the CDU’s top candidate, Sven Schulze, to a copy of Friedrich Merz and stressing that the party will not rely on the weakness of others. Instead, he asserted that the electorate is genuinely fed up with the current administration, accusing other parties of ignoring the fundamental problems facing the country. According to Siegmund, his critics only worry about how to prevent the AfD from winning, rather than proposing how to genuinely move the country forward.
Furthermore, Siegmund strongly criticized the warning issued by former Saxony-Anhalt Minister-President Reiner Haseloff (CDU)-which claimed that the significance of the state Abitur would diminish if the AfD were to win. Siegmund labeled such a warning as an “absolute panic” and “complete nonsense” arguing that the opposition’s inability to devise effective political arguments forces them to resort to sensational fabrications. He added that not only is the warning legally inaccurate, but it is also substantively wrong. He predicted that, conversely, the Abitur in Saxony-Anhalt might become even more highly regarded in the future, especially because the process would require corresponding investments and improvements in the education system, which he claimed has always been the most crucial resource. He concluded by stating that the perceived “helplessness” of the opposition speaks a clear message.