BERLIN – As the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) made massive gains in regional elections held in two states, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked the mainstream parties to form governments without right-wing extremists.

He described the losses suffered by the SPD-led coalition “bitter” after the AfD became the first far-right party to win a state legislature election in Germany since the World War II.

Meanwhile, the failure on the part of social media platforms is being cited as the main reason behind the far-right surge in different parts of the world.

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The shocking but expected results were produced in Thuringia after the polls held on Sunday. In Saxony, the AfD was a close second behind the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Both of these states are located in east Germany.

The eastern parts of Germany are becoming a far-right stronghold as the German unification has so far been unable to bridge the divide between the people.

However, the AfD is deemed “right-wing extremist”, thus unlikely to form governments in any of the two states given the fact that other parties have refused to collaborate with it to form a majority.

CENTER LEFT IS LEFT NOWHERE

According to the projected results, the AfD bagged 32.8% votes in Thuringia, which translates into 32 seats out of a total of 88.

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The second-placed CDU secured 23.6% votes or 23 seats.

However, it is the newly-formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – a far-left entity – which came third 15.8% votes or 15 seats, followed by the Left Party that polled 13.1% votes – enough to get 12 seats.

The BSW has been formed by those leaving the Left Party and is pro-Russian just like the far-right. It reflects other features of the far-right, including being Eurosceptic.

Meanwhile, the BSW founder is a former member of the East German Communist Party.

On the other hand, the ruling coalition in the Centre proved to be the worst performer, as only the SPD (Social Democrats) could manage to pass the threshold to secure six seats. It polled 6.1% votes. The other two members –  the Greens and the pro-business FDP –  won’t be represented in Thuringia legislature after failing to get the minimum number of votes.

As far as Saxony is concerned, the CDU is the leader by obtaining 31.9% votes with the AfD polling 30.6%. It means the center-right CDU will get 42 seats with another 40 going to the far-right AfD.

Meanwhile, the BSW is ranked third in Saxony too after getting 11.8% votes 15 seats in a House of 120.

It was followed by the SPD 7.3% and the Greens 5.1% votes, representing 10 and seven seats respectively.

DIVISIVE AfD IS DAMAGING GERMANY

“The results for the AfD in Saxony and Thuringia are worrying,” Scholz said in a statement. “Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is damaging Germany. It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation.”

“Sunday’s election results are bitter – for us too,” Scholz said. But he noted that the more dire predictions, that the SPD might fall out of a state parliament for the first time, had not materialized.