Overview
- Reiner Haseloff will submit his resignation at midnight on January 27, clearing the way for the Landtag to elect Economics Minister Sven Schulze as minister‑president on January 28.
- CDU, SPD and FDP pledged to keep their coalition intact through the end of the term, with no cabinet reshuffle and Finance Minister Michael Richter temporarily assuming Schulze’s economic portfolio.
- Recent polling showed the AfD clearly ahead in Saxony‑Anhalt, and Schulze, still little known to many voters, is expected to seek the benefits of incumbency ahead of the September vote.
- Opposition figures condemned the mid‑term handover, with AfD’s Ulrich Siegmund demanding new elections and Sahra Wagenknecht calling the process undemocratic.
- As CSU leader Markus Söder urged fewer German states, Schulze rejected any merger for a so‑called ‘Mitteldeutschland’ and instead proposed shared administrative bodies with Saxony and Thuringia, a stance echoed by leaders pushing back on mergers that face steep legal hurdles.