Overview

• The FDP has withdrawn support for a tax reform aimed at addressing 'cold progression,' leaving the proposal stalled until after the February 2025 Bundestag election.
• Alice Weidel has been named the AfD's first-ever chancellor candidate, despite no realistic path to forming a government due to the party's isolation in coalition politics.
• Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW party prepares for its first taste of governance, with coalition agreements in Brandenburg and potentially in Thuringia, marking a shift from opposition to shared responsibility.
• In Saxony, a CDU-SPD minority government is forming, requiring cross-party collaboration to pass legislation in a politically fragmented state parliament.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz defends his policies and leadership ahead of the election, while the SPD and Greens see slight gains in recent polls, contrasting with losses for the CDU/CSU and AfD.