Left Party state leader Schaper misses out on direct mandate in Saxon state elections

The state leader of the Left Party, Susanne Schaper, has clearly missed out on a direct mandate for the Saxon state parliament. The co-leading candidate won 12.7 percent of the first votes for the Left Party in her Chemnitz constituency. This put her behind CDU General Secretary Alexander Dierks (36.7) and AfD candidate Volker Dringenberg (33.8).

The 46-year-old Schaper was also number one on the Left Party's state list. According to projections, the party failed to reach the five percent hurdle. However, thanks to two direct mandates from Leipzig, it can still enter the state parliament with the strength of its second vote result due to a special feature of Saxony's electoral law. The Left Party is likely to be represented by five or six MPs.