By Thomas Escritt
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s conservatives and Social Democrats formed a minority government in the eastern state of Saxony on Wednesday after the success of the far-right in September’s regional election made it all but impossible to find a stable parliamentary majority.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) took first or second place in all three of this autumn’s regional votes, forcing Germany’s mainstream parties into awkward alliances and untested configurations at a time of deep economic crisis and before a snap national election in February.
All other parties refuse to work with the AfD, officially labelled extremist and anti-democratic by authorities in Saxony and several other German states, complicating the parliamentary arithmetic when it comes to forming coalitions.
Michael Kretschmer, the re-elected conservative premier of Saxony, is 10 votes short of the majority he will need to pass legislation in the 120-seat regional parliament.
He will need to rely on ad hoc support from the Greens, who only have seven seats, the populist left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, whose opposition to supporting Ukraine makes it an uncomfortable partner, and the Left Party, successor to the East German Communist Party.
“We can deal with the many challenges we face if we work together,” Kretschmer told the parties who lent him votes. “I am grateful for this responsible opposition.”
Polls also put the AfD in second place behind the conservatives ahead of Germany’s national election on Feb. 23, prompting some commentators to fear a similarly tricky government formation in its aftermath.
The conservatives have governed Saxony, the most populous state in the former East Germany, continuously since German reunification in 1990. This is the first time they have been forced to form a minority government.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Gareth Jones)
