Germany's far-right AfD says 'democracy demands' parties work with them after state election win

Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt, says the result is a "clear mandate to govern" The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is "very, very close" to taking power in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, its deputy parliamentary leader has told the BBC, after a historic victory in elections there. Sunday's preliminary results show it fell three seats short of an outright majority, with 43.8% of the vote. It is now seeking support from other parties or individuals in order to govern. While most German political parties refuse to work with the AfD, Beatrix von Storch called for its opponents to enter talks and said: "You cannot say, I do not accept the vote of the people". Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was "deeply shocked" , describing it as "seismic... not just in the country but also in my own political party and I take that very seriously". His party, the conservative CDU, saw its share of the vote almost halved to 17.2% in the state's preliminary results. Merz said it was not possible to return to "business as usual", adding that the country needed "profound reforms" and the CDU needed to "reach people at an emotional level". No far-right party has controlled a German state since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing and local education. Von Storch said the state's results "were on the table and now democrats have to talk to [one] another. This is what democracy demands". She added that if parties refused to work with the AfD, "then we might end up in severe chaos and maybe we have a new election". Her comments were echoed by AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, who told a news conference on Monday that the party had won a "clear mandate to govern". The state's defeated premier, the CDU's Sven Schulze, also said the mandate to govern Saxony-Anhalt "now lies with the AfD". Saxony-Anhalt has a small population of 2.1 million and the AfD in the state is assessed "right-wing extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund, 35. The party's plans for Saxony-Anhalt, which include segregating child refugees into special classes and setting up a task-force to help detain and deport migrants who no longer have the right to be in the state, are highly controversial within Germany. The AfD is currently heading for 39 seats in the 83-seat state parliament instead of the 42 needed for an outright majority, although the result has not yet been finalised.