Volkswacht Bodensee - Far-right AfD claims crushing victory in east German state vote

"We have made history today," said a jubilant Ulrich Siegmund, the 35-year-old lead candidate of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party in Saxony-Anhalt state, as the vote count continued.

The AfD won 44 percent, more than doubling its support, and far ahead of the around 18 percent for the centre-right CDU of Merz, according to projections by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

The CDU's state premier Sven Schulze called the outcome "a severe blow" but will stay on as caretaker leader during what could be a long and painful process toward a new state government.

All major parties have agreed on a "firewall" of non-cooperation with the AfD, whose state branch is categorised as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.

The AfD's national co-leader Alice Weidel -- who has long condemned the "firewall" concept as undemocratic -- praised her party's result as "sensational" and said the party had "received a very clear mandate to govern" in Saxony-Anhalt.

However, it remains far from clear who will eventually rule, as the AfD gained just less than half of parliamentary seats.

The CDU had hoped to cobble together a multi-party coalition to cling to power, but would still lack a majority even if it teamed up with the centre-left SPD, Greens and the far-left Die Linke.

The AfD meanwhile may hope to win the support of the small pro-Russian BSW party -- a leftist group that is tough on immigration, and which was expected to just scrape into parliament with five percent.

Weidel said that "naturally, a government scenario involving the BSW is very interesting for us".

A first-ever AfD state government would be a shock for many in Germany, which has been at pains to atone for its dark history of World War II and the Holocaust and so far kept extremist parties at bay.

"I am personally appalled by this election result," said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews.

The spectre of a far-right state government drew thousands of the AfD's opponents to a rally on Saturday in the regional capital Magdeburg, with banners saying "life is better without Nazis".

"I'm very worried," demonstrator Laura Saalfeld told AFP, fearing a change in atmosphere. "Far-right sympathisers will show themselves more openly on the streets," she said.

- Radical agenda -

Siegmund has ambitions to become state premier and lead a political revolution from Saxony-Anhalt that would propel the party to national victory in 2029.

On the campaign trail, Siegmund -- a former entrepreneur with a huge social media following -- has been mobbed by fans, many wearing T-shirts bearing his likeness.

The party has tapped into a sense of nostalgia for communist East Germany as well as lingering resentment about an enduring wealth gap with the west decades after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

In line with the sometimes defiant sense of local "Ossie pride", Siegmund has often ridden the iconic local Simson bike, including to the polling booth Sunday.

While he has been dubbed the friendly face of the AfD, Siegmund's campaign promises have been radical. He wants to target irregular migrants with a "remigration and deportation offensive" from day one.

The party's "anti-woke" agenda also includes vows to replace LGBTQ pride rainbow flags at public schools with the German standard, and to lessen the emphasis on the Third Reich in history teaching.

The AfD win heaps pressure on Merz, who has vowed to reboot a stagnant economy and restrict irregular immigration, but has seen his party beaten by the AfD in national surveys too.

R.Fischer--VB