The leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, has urged the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to immediately call for early federal elections with the aim of facilitating his replacement "before Christmas," following the party's victory in the regional elections held this Sunday in Saxony-Anhalt.
"I hope there will be early federal elections and I hope the current chancellor will be replaced before Christmas," Weidel stated after the "historic" result of the Saxon elections. "We have a 44-45% here. It is a clear mandate to govern. We will also govern at the federal level," she emphasized.
The AfD leader has criticized the current German political class, considering that "people are fed up with politics being done against the interests of Germany." "We clearly represent the interests of our country," she defended before detailing the central axes of her government proposal: "cutting excessive spending, controlling our borders, deporting all foreigners, all criminals, we are going to close the border."
In her opinion, in recent years the country has been "ruined," a situation she qualifies as a "catastrophe," and for which she holds both former Chancellor Angela Merkel and the current head of the Executive, Merz, responsible.
Weidel has predicted that support for the CDU will "soon" fall below 20% at the federal level. "I think something is going to happen with Friedrich Merz, who is tremendously unpopular," she pointed out, suggesting that "the CDU will also consider replacing the chancellor."
"We already have a nine-point lead over the CDU. The CDU will continue to decline. We will continue to grow," Weidel stated, who is confident that AfD will reach 40% nationwide. "We are going to achieve it as soon as possible because more and more people trust us, because we want political change and because they simply do not want to continue being taken for fools," she predicted.
The co-leader of AfD, Tino Chrupalla, has pointed out that "2029 will be a decisive electoral year, at the latest." "It will be the second turning point for this country and then we will govern Germany," Chrupalla assured, who emphasized that the main impetus of his campaign has been Merz himself. "The 'difficult to educate' people have clearly shown what is happening today. They have clearly voted for AfD," he concluded.
Relations with Russia and the United States
On the international stage, Weidel has claimed the diplomatic route. "We are always open to diplomacy and we have always criticized the fact that when we talk about Ukraine we need an open channel with Russia to reach an agreement and achieve a peaceful solution," he has stated.
Weidel maintains that "we need good relations not only with Russia, but above all with the United States" and has referred to the trip made this weekend by American representatives to Moscow and Kiev.
"It is a role that Germany could have played. In recent decades it was a common practice for us to intervene as neutral mediators and that role would fit us much better than the rhetorical warmongers we interpret today," he has added.