MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) \u2014 The far-right Alternative for Germany was projected to win a strong victory in a regional election Sunday, but it wasn\u2019t immediately clear whether it would be able to fulfill its ambition of forming the country\u2019s first far-right state government since World War II. <\/p>\n
The party of German\u2019s unpopular leader, Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a>, was set for a disastrous result in the the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The anti-migration and Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany\u2019s candidate for governor said that \u201cwe have written history.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulrich Siegmund, 35, told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that \u201cthings cannot carry on like this\u201d and that it was \u201calso a signal toward Berlin.\u201d Of Germany\u2019s unpopular leader, he said: \u201cA very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz. Every day this man is in the chancellery is one too many.\u201d<\/p>\n AfD wanted to govern on its own<\/p>\n Alternative for Germany, or AfD, went into the vote seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern on its own. That would overcome the so-called firewall<\/a> of mainstream parties\u2019 refusal to work with AfD, but it was unclear after polls closed whether it would happen.<\/p>\n A first state government would be the biggest prize in the anti-migration party\u2019s 13-year history, at a time of widespread discontent with a national government that has yet to persuade voters that it can get the country\u2019s sluggish economy<\/a> moving. <\/p>\n Whether or not AfD can form a government, the projected result is a blow to Merz, whose center-right party has led Saxony-Anhalt for 24 years. Unlike other countries in Europe, modern Germany hasn\u2019t yet had a far-right or right-wing populist party leading a national, state or major-city government.<\/p>\n AfD is the biggest opposition party<\/a> in Germany\u2019s national parliament and is strongest in the formerly communist and less prosperous east, where Saxony-Anhalt is located. Its regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt is one of several classified by the domestic intelligence agency as a proven right-wing extremist group. AfD vehemently rejects accusations of extremism.<\/p>\n Big decline for German leader\u2019s party<\/p>\n Projections for ARD and ZDF public television, based on exit polls and early counting, put AfD at a bit over 44% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago in the region of 2.1 million people west of Berlin.<\/p>\n That was far ahead of Merz\u2019s Christian Democratic Union which was seen polling 18.5% and losing about half its support. The Left Party and the center-left Social Democrats and Greens were seen taking around 9% each. <\/p>\n It was unclear whether the BSW party would get the 5% of the vote needed to win seats. The projections put AfD at least marginally short of an absolute majority, though that could change.<\/p>\n AfD\u2019s national co-leader, Alice Weidel, described the projected result as \u201csensational\u201d and said that \u201cwe have received a very clear mandate to govern here.\u201d The party\u2019s \u201chand is outstretched to all who want to make Saxony-Anhalt better and move Germany forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n