The BSW opens the door to AfD after their victory in the elections: 'It would be undemocratic to exclude them from the Government'

As of today, September 6, 2026, the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt are taking place precisely this Sunday, so there are no official results yet and, therefore, no government formation process underway with finalized data. The sources consulted describe the context prior to the vote and possible scenarios, but do not yet include the definitive distribution of seats or formal negotiations afterwards.

Current situation after the elections

According to the coverage by Demócrata on the eve of the election, there has been strong social mobilization in Saxony-Anhalt in view of an unprecedented advance of Alternative for Germany (AfD). An article describes how in Magdeburg, the state capital, the “Festival for Democracy” took place, with about 6,000 people gathered and up to 26 demonstrations called throughout the Land to express rejection of a possible far-right regional government.

Another analysis from the same outlet points out that polls place AfD as the clear favorite in the September 6 elections, with surveys putting it above 40% of the votes and far ahead of the CDU and other parties. However, two key points are emphasized:

• Winning the elections does not automatically mean controlling the regional government. The text reminds that the state president (minister-president) must be elected by the regional Parliament, the Landtag.
• There is a “cordon sanitaire” against AfD. CDU, SPD, Greens, and The Left have reiterated that they will not form a coalition with AfD. Therefore, if AfD does not obtain an absolute majority of seats, it would be possible for the other parties to try to build an alternative majority to prevent it from reaching the Executive.

In summary, at this moment there is not yet a defined state of “government formation”: voting is taking place and everything will depend on:

• The definitive result of AfD in seats.
• Which parties surpass the 5% threshold to enter the Landtag (Greens, BSW, FDP are on the edge according to polls).
• The ability of the other forces to agree on a coalition that blocks or does not block a government led by AfD.

Until the official count is known and rounds of contacts between parties begin, only predictable scenarios can be discussed, not a real state of investiture negotiations.

Basic rules of investiture in Saxony-Anhalt

Regarding the deadlines and specific rules for the investiture of the minister-president in Saxony-Anhalt, searches in the press and public documentation have not located a detailed explanation of the Land's Constitution or the Landtag's Rules of Procedure with step-by-step dates and majorities.

What does appear explicitly in the election analysis is that:

• The Land government is not configured directly by the citizens, but the state president must obtain the support of the regional Parliament after the elections.
• This necessarily implies a subsequent process of parliamentary negotiation and coalitions, especially when the most voted party does not reach a majority of seats on its own.

In practice, this means that once the new Landtag is constituted, a vote (or several, as foreseen) must be held to elect the minister-president. But the sources consulted do not specify:

• With what type of majority the minister-president must be elected in each vote (absolute, simple, etc.).
• Within what maximum deadline from the constitution of Parliament a candidate must be proposed.
• What happens if the election is not achieved within a certain time frame (for example, possible dissolution of the Landtag or repeat elections).

These details depend on the Verfassung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt (Constitution of the Land) and the Geschäftsordnung des Landtags von Sachsen-Anhalt (Internal Rules of the Parliament), which have not been reproduced or summarized in the articles accessible in this search.

What can be done to know the exact deadlines

If you need the precise legal deadlines (days to propose a candidate, number of votes, consequences of a prolonged deadlock, etc.), the safest way is:

• Consult directly the text of the Constitution of Saxony-Anhalt, in the articles dedicated to the election of the minister-president.
• Review the Landtag Rules of Procedure, where phases, session calls, and voting modalities are usually detailed.
• Follow information from German media and the Landtag itself once the results are known and the investiture process is formally activated.

With the data available now, it can only be rigorously stated that the minister-president must be elected by the regional Parliament and that, given AfD's political isolation, the arithmetic of seats coming from the polls will completely condition the formation of the next government of Saxony-Anhalt.

The specific text of the Verfassung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt (Constitution of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt) or an official summary of the provisions that specifically regulate the competencies of the Ministerpräsident of that Land has not been found in the sources consulted. Therefore, it is not possible to detail, with direct documentary support, article by article, what exactly their powers are according to the legislation of the Land itself.

That said, it can be explained, in a general and comparative manner, how the figure of the minister-president is normally configured in the German Länder within the framework of the Basic Law of Bonn and regional constitutions, always emphasizing that to know the exact detail for Saxony-Anhalt one would have to refer to the official text of its Constitution and the Land's organic laws.

1. Institutional position of the minister-president

In the German constitutional model, each Land is a federated state with its own Constitution, Parliament (Landtag), and Government (Landesregierung). In almost all of them, the minister-president is:

• Head of the Land Government, politically responsible before the regional Parliament.
• The figure who sets the general orientation of the policy of the Land Executive (political direction of the Government).
• The main representative of the Land externally, especially in its relations with the Federation and other Länder.

Thus, they occupy a position similar to that of an autonomous president in Spain or a prime minister in a parliamentary system, but at the federated level.

2. Appointment and political responsibility

The constitutions of the Länder essentially repeat a parliamentary scheme:

• The minister-president is usually elected by the Landtag (regional parliament), normally by absolute majority in the first vote and, if applicable, by simpler majorities in subsequent rounds.
• They are politically accountable to the Chamber: the Parliament can withdraw its confidence through mechanisms similar to the constructive vote of no confidence at the federal level, forcing resignation if another candidate is elected.
• Conversely, the minister-president usually has powers to request the dissolution of the Parliament under certain circumstances, according to the Land Constitution.

These elements configure a reciprocal trust relationship between Parliament and regional Government.

3. Typical competencies over the Land Government

Although the detail depends on each regional Constitution, the figure of the minister-president usually includes, among others, the following functions over the Executive:

• Government formation: proposes their own appointment to Parliament and, once elected, participates decisively in the appointment of other members of the Land Council of Ministers.
• Appointment and dismissal of ministers: in many Länder they can propose or decide the appointment and dismissal of the holders of the different portfolios, within the framework set by the Constitution of the Land.
• Direction of government meetings: presides over the Land Council of Ministers, sets the agenda, and coordinates the activity of the ministries.
• Policy coordination: exercises the so-called “directive competence,” which allows setting the general line of government action that other Government members must respect.

4. Representation of the Land at the federal level

Another usual block of powers refers to the relationship between the Land and the Federation:

• The minister-president is, as a rule, the representative of the Land in the Bundesrat, the federal chamber of the Länder, or designates who holds the representation in each session.
• Participates in conferences of minister-presidents and other intergovernmental bodies where common positions of the Länder are coordinated vis-à-vis the federal Government.
• Assumes tasks of external representation of the Land before other States, regions, and European institutions, especially in matters of the Land's own competence.

5. Need to consult official sources of Saxony-Anhalt

To respond strictly legally to your question — that is, with the exact list of competencies and powers of the minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt “according to applicable German legislation” — one would have to consult directly:

• The Verfassung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, in its current version.
• The laws on Government and Administration organization of the Land (for example, a “Government Law” or laws on the State Chancellery), where the details of the functions are usually developed.

These norms have not appeared in the searches I have been able to perform from here, so any attempt to attribute specific articles or competencies to the minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt would go beyond the information available in the sources consulted.

Based on the sources consulted this round — political profile databases and the archive of the newspaper Demócrata, complemented with open searches in the press and web — I have found no solid biographical reference about Claudia Wittig nor verifiable data about her previous political trajectory or her original party before being presented as the main candidate of the BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht). In practice, this means that, with the available information, it is not possible to reliably reconstruct her previous political path.

In the political actors database I reviewed, there is no person registered with the name Claudia Wittig, nor with the surname Wittig associated with parliamentary or government positions, neither in Spain nor in the small set of international profiles that the system collects when they have direct relevance. Searches have been tried both by full name and by surname, without matching results.

Since the query specifically refers to the German party BSW, it was also checked whether that party or its founder, Sahra Wagenknecht, appeared in the same stakeholder database. There are no entries for BSW or Wagenknecht either, which fits the orientation of that database: it is mainly focused on Spanish political leaders and, only selectively, on international figures with direct impact on Spanish or European politics.

To compensate for this limitation, the archive of Demócrata and other indexed news about Germany, AfD, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance itself have been consulted. These pieces describe in some detail:

• The general context of BSW as a split from Die Linke (The Left) promoted by Sahra Wagenknecht in 2024, as recorded in an analysis about internal tensions in the party in Thuringia: it is explained that BSW was born as a break with the traditional left, with a populist profile and strong presence in the eastern German Länder.
• The electoral weight of BSW in regional and federal polls, where it usually stands below the 5% threshold to enter parliaments, sharing a block with Die Linke and AfD in some estimates.
• The figure of Sahra Wagenknecht as a charismatic leader, who continues to influence the organization even when she no longer holds the formal party leadership.

However, in none of the identified articles — focused on polls, party dynamics, and internal conflicts of BSW — is Claudia Wittig mentioned, neither as a candidate nor as a regional leader. Nor is there a list of BSW lead candidates where she might appear. That is, the news provide context about the party and its position in the German party system, but do not offer biographical information about that specific person.

From this absence of results, the only thing that can be rigorously stated is negative: it is not recorded, in the sources used, that Claudia Wittig has held relevant previous positions in parliaments or governments, nor what her previous party membership would be (Die Linke, SPD, Greens, or another party), nor has a detailed political biography been found that allows attributing a specific original party. She could be:

• A very recent political figure, whose profile has not yet been recorded in the usual databases.
• A candidate with a local or professional trajectory outside institutional politics, about whom international and European media have barely published yet.
• A possible error in the name (transcription, translation, or confusion with another BSW candidate), something relatively frequent in initial coverage of new formations.

Since the aim of your question is precisely to clarify her trajectory and party of origin, it would be irresponsible to fill that gap with conjectures (for example, automatically assuming she comes from Die Linke just because BSW is a split from that party). Without an explicit source confirming it, that hypothesis cannot be presented as a fact.

If you need a comprehensive answer, my recommendation is to complement this search with specific queries in German media and databases (for example, the official BSW website, electoral biographies of the Land where she runs, or official candidacy databases), which usually include more complete profiles of regional or newly incorporated candidates. With the information currently accessible from the sources I handle, it is not possible to detail Claudia Wittig's trajectory or original party before her designation as the main candidate of BSW.