Ulrich Sigmund, the far-right choice for Germany Party’s lead candidate in upcoming regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, has told DW that he wants to create a “domino effect” with a “historic” victory.
According to surveys, the AfD is poised to win elections in the state in September, and may even govern alone.
“There is a real sense of optimism here in Saxony-Anhalt. It’s a wonderful feeling. We want nothing more and nothing less than to make history. We are making the first AfD-led government in the whole of Germany a reality here in Saxony-Anhalt,” Sigmund, 35, told DW in an interview at the state parliament in Magdeburg.
‘extremist’ label
Siegmund’s AfD branch is one of the most controversial branches in Germany.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the state’s domestic intelligence service, is the AfD’s regional chapter for “right-wing extremists”. He argues that the party puts forward a concept of citizenship based on race, which contradicts the German Constitution, the Basic Law.
Sigmund dismisses the intelligence agency’s classification as politically motivated.
Yet political opponents and police chiefs warned that an AfD government would present risks to national security, including sharing classified information.
The AfD, Sigmund insists, “is committed to the rule of law.”
But many political scientists are skeptical: “I think an AfD in government would make its radicalism more established and professionalized,” Matthias Quent of the Institute for Democratic Culture at Magdeburg-Stendal University told DW. “Especially in Saxony-Anhalt, which has one of the most far-right branches of the state. There is no force there that wants a different path.”
No ‘ideological check’?
Preparations are underway behind the scenes to begin the search for potential candidates to play key roles in the new administration
Sigmund said the hiring would follow civil service rules and said he would not “ideologically screen” candidates associated with the white supremacist identitarian movement.
He said, “For me, the focus is on the individual, and we keep a close eye on them. If they meet the criteria for the post concerned, I will not subject them to ideological scrutiny, but will respect them, their qualifications and the applicable legal framework.”
If the far-right AfD are to regain power in Saxony-Anhalt after the September elections, Sigmund estimates that 200 positions in ministries and state agencies will need to be filled.
Asked whether he would follow the AfD’s own rules – which prevent party members from joining certain organisations, including extremist groups – Sigmund pointed to the distinction between party membership and state appointments.
He said, “You are talking about a political party. We are talking about a state government. There are no political guidelines while appointing, for example, a department head – there is a legal framework, and of course, we always follow that. You mean political association or party membership.”
However, sociologist Matthias Quent expects that, if the AfD comes into government, it will attempt to install its extremist supporters in the civil service.
Radical changes in security services
Sigmund, a former salesman whose tiktok account One of the most popular political accounts in the country, also underlined his intention to address law enforcement agencies.
“In fact, we want to bring the system back on the path to success, depoliticize it, and make it neutral again – and, above all, serve the interests of the country.”
Georg Maier, the interior minister of neighboring Thuringia, has called for the effects of the AfD’s seizure of power to be put on the agenda at the next meeting of state interior ministers in June.
“We see that the AfD’s strategy is to weaken our liberal democracy from within and destroy it piece by piece,” Meier told DW.
‘Migration Plan’
The AfD has promised to get tough on rejected asylum seekers or migrants whose visas have expired. Contrary to existing law, the AfD wants all people awaiting deportation to be detained.
“Under our government, persons required to leave the country must, of course, be detained until deportation,” Sigmund said.
He wants to form a deportation task force to enforce those new rules. According to data from the Interior Ministry of Saxony-Anhalt, there are just under 5000 people in the state who need to leave the country.
Radical changes in education
Sigmund wants root-and-branch changes to the education system, ranging from the reintroduction of home schooling to separate classes for refugee children. In Germany, education is a matter for the federal states.
“We are going to separate the curriculum from ideology. This means that everything that has been introduced ideologically here in recent years will be removed.”
The AfD has campaigned heavily on removing diversity education, LGBTQ+ awareness and anti-racism seminars from public education.
russia reset
Although foreign policy is the responsibility of the federal government, Sigmund has called for an end to sanctions on Russia. If elected, he has promised to bring back Russian language courses and wants Russian students to return to the state as part of school exchange programs. The small state of Saxony-Anhalt was part of East Germany, the GDR, which had close ties to the Soviet Union.
Sigmund argued, “Why should we now move the culture in a different direction just because that’s the zeitgeist? We don’t think that’s a good idea. We want the culture to remain separate from the trend.”
Saxony-Anhalt AfD rocked by scandals
At the beginning of the year, Sigmund came under pressure over allegations of nepotism. Many AfD MPs in the state parliament have secured well-paid jobs for family members of their colleagues.
Sigmund himself made headlines for attending a networking event for remote people in 2023. Media reports on this meeting later sparked the largest civil society protests in the history of the Federal Republic.
At that so-called “Potsdam meeting”, the Austrian ethnographer Martin Sellner presented his master plan for “migration”. The plan includes the deportation of asylum seekers, foreigners with the right to remain, and “non-assimilated citizens”.
Domino effect?
Despite the scandals, the AfD’s support continues to rise in opinion polls. If regional polls in Saxony-Anhalt are correct, the September election could end more than two decades of conservative rule and mark a breakthrough for the AfD, which was founded in 2013 as an anti-euro party, and embraced the anti-immigration issue in 2015.
Despite the pressure to deliver results, Sigmund believes that an AfD victory would be a springboard for others in the AfD.
Sigmund said, “It would signal that there is finally a political shift happening, that we are once again pursuing policies consistent with our state. And of course, that will have a domino effect.”
Elections in Saxony-Anhalt are scheduled for September 6; Just under 1.8 million people are eligible to vote in the state, making its population declining and aging faster than other areas.
Edited by Reena Goldenberg