Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is due to unveil an action plan on Saturday outlining its first 100 days in office if it wins power, eight weeks before a state election in Saxony-Anhalt that could give the party its first opportunity to govern a German state.
The AfD has been polling well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony-Anhalt, while also leading surveys in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, with both eastern states due to go to the polls in September.
If the AfD were to take charge after either election, it would mark the first time the party had governed at the state level and deal a major blow to efforts by mainstream parties to contain its rise.
The AfD has pledged to introduce compulsory work for asylum seekers and expand immigration detention if it takes power in Saxony-Anhalt after the September 6 election, although experts say the plans would face significant legal and logistical hurdles.
Polls have put the AfD, led by its 35-year-old candidate for state premier, Ulrich Siegmund, comfortably ahead of the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt.
The party congress in the state capital, Magdeburg, is due to begin at 10 am (0800 GMT).
Delegates are also expected to elect a new state executive board. State party chairman Martin Reichardt, who has led the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt since 2018 and is a member of the Bundestag, is seeking another term.