CDU aims to become strongest force in Saxony state elections

The CDU wants to become the party with the most votes in the state elections in Saxony, as it did five years ago. The AfD is currently ahead in the polls. "Our goal is to clearly become the strongest party in the Saxony elections and to form a stable government from the center under the leadership of Michael Kretschmer," CDU Secretary General Alexander Dierks told the "Rheinische Post" (Monday). Cooperation with the AfD and the Left Party was out of the question for the CDU/CSU. The election will take place on 1 September.

At the end of January, 35 percent of respondents in the Saxony trend survey conducted by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) voted for the AfD - 7.5 percentage points more than in the last state election in 2019. The CDU is the second strongest force in the survey with 30 percent. In the state election five years ago, it was in first place with 32.1 percent, followed by the AfD with 27.5 percent. In Saxony, the AfD is classified by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist.

Dierks sees the current poll results as evidence of dissatisfaction with the federal government among the electorate. "The traffic light government in Berlin is doing a poor job of governing. People are frustrated by this." The great dissatisfaction with the traffic light government's current decisions is reflected in the poll results. The traffic light government remains inactive in many areas.

"The traffic light government's inability to set the right priorities is making people's lives more expensive, the economy weaker and inflaming the social climate," criticized Dierks. The CDU wants to change this. The election on September 1 is also "not a protest vote against Berlin", but "an election for the future of Saxony".