Overview
- Two BSW state branches in Saxony‑Anhalt and Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern publicly endorsed a model of a nonpartisan (überparteilicher) minister‑president that would permit formal talks including the AfD.
- BSW federal figures including Sahra Wagenknecht, Fabio De Masi and Amira Mohamed Ali have pushed the idea as a route to unseat incumbent CDU leaders and to end the longstanding exclusion of the AfD.
- CDU leaders sharply condemned the stance, with Saxony‑Anhalt’s minister‑president Sven Schulze warning that a BSW presence in the state parliament would make it much harder to prevent an AfD government.
- Polls cited in coverage show the AfD with a strong lead in Saxony‑Anhalt (around 41–42%), the CDU trailing on about 22–24%, and the BSW polling near 4–5%, meaning BSW entry into parliaments could be decisive for coalition math.
- The proposals deepen a rift inside the BSW, as the Thuringia branch and parliamentary group refuse a federal demand to leave their CDU–SPD coalition, setting up internal conflict before two September state votes and possible wider shifts in German coalitions.