Saxony-Anhalt: SPD breaks its silence – is a government without AfD possible?

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Saxony-Anhalt: SPD breaks its silence – is a government without AfD possible.

In the government formation in Saxony-Anhalt, the lines have lately been running mainly between the AfD and the BSW. Now the SPD is suddenly stepping out of cover.

Wondering what this means politically? In Magdeburg, the SPD is exploring a scenario that many had already written off – a state government not led by the AfD.

Background: In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD and BSW are in talks about a possible cooperation. With the SPD's move – the SPD is inviting four parties to discussions, as ZEIT reports – a second path opens up in government formation.

But suddenly the SPD is coming out of cover.

What is the SPD planning in Saxony-Anhalt?

As Handelsblatt reports, in Saxony-Anhalt it was recently mainly the AfD and BSW talking about a possible cooperation. Now the SPD is posing the counter-question: Is a different scenario conceivable than an AfD-led state government?

The SPD evidently wants to deliver the answer itself – and is inviting four parties to talks. In doing so, it signals: There is an alternative – and we are ready to put it on the table.

What role do the AfD and BSW continue to play?

The path between the AfD and BSW remains open. Both parties continue to talk about a possible cooperation – the SPD's move does not change that for now.

But what it does change: The debate is no longer narrowly focused on what an AfD-led government could look like. There is now a second strand of negotiations – and it comes, of all places, from the SPD.

What happens now in Saxony-Anhalt?

The SPD has made the first move – four parties have been invited. Exactly which parties these are and how large the overlap for a possible government turns out to be cannot be fully gleaned from the available reports.

What is clear: In Saxony-Anhalt, government formation is still open. Two parallel strands are now running – the AfD-BSW path and the new one that the SPD is just opening. Which one ultimately holds up will become clear in the coming weeks.