While the main winners in Germany’s election on Sunday were the conservative bloc led by Friedrich Merz – who is likely to become chancellor – there were also scenes of jubilation from parties much further to the right and left of the political spectrum.
The leaders of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, embraced as the first forecasts appeared on the screens at 6 pm (1700 GMT).
“They wanted to cut us in half, but the opposite has happened,” Weidel told supporters gathered at the AfD post-election party. “We are now the political centre,” said Chrupalla.
The party said that some 200 journalists from Germany and abroad and around 100 guests were crammed into the party’s inconspicuous headquarters far from the political heart of Berlin, in an industrial area in the north of the city.
Over steaks, sausages, beer and sparkling wine, the election result is seen as another step towards real political power for the AfD.
According to early vote counts, the AfD roughly doubled its vote share, to just over 20%, and are set become the second largest force in parliament. Leaders vowed that next time they would go one step further and become the biggest party.
The number of AfD members in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, is expected to swell from 77 – one of whom was not part of the parliamentary group – to more than 140, even as new reforms are set to trim the overall size of the body from 733 to 630.
The only thing keeping the party from fully exercising its mandate has been the so-called “firewall” maintained by mainstream parties, who have all vowed not to work with the AfD.
The party is categorized as a suspected right-wing extremist group by domestic intelligence, and several state-level party organizations are classified as confirmed right-wing extremist groups.
“We see that the firewall is crumbling a little more every day,” said a delighted AfD lawmaker, Beatrix von Storch.
‘The Left lives on’
On the opposite end of the political spectrum, there were also celebrations on Sunday evening as a party that many had written off just months ago staged a major comeback.
The top candidate for The Left party, Heidi Reichinnek, wiped tears from her radiant face on stage, as the crowd of supporters at the Arena Berlin in the east of the capital city went wild.
“What a brilliant experience this is,” Reichinnek called out.
She has achieved what seemed unthinkable just a short time ago: After the party only just scraped into the Bundestag last time around, she is now guaranteed a place in the next parliament.
In early 2024, The Left appeared headed for political irrelevance after one the party’s leading members, Sahra Wagenknecht, split from the group and launched her own populist party.
The Left lost members and supporters as the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) scored well in several state-level elections in the former east Germany.
But on Sunday, The Left fared far better in the national elections than was expected a few weeks ago, nearly doubling their support to over 8%.
The BSW, meanwhile, stumbled badly and look in danger of falling short of the 5% hurdle generally needed to claim seats in the Bundestag.
“The Left lives on,” top candidate Jan van Aken said to a jubilant crowd.
As reasons for The Left’s success, observers point to recent changes in leadership, a solid campaign strategy, and discontent at what some voters see as the shaky firewall keeping out the AfD.
Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of Germany’s The Left (Die Linke) party, speaks during the electoral evening after the forecast of the German federal election for the 21st Bundestag. Carsten Koall/dpa
