According to The Guardian, preliminary results of local elections in two eastern German states, Thuringia and Saxony, show voters' dissatisfaction with Germany's mainstream political parties.

Accordingly, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won in Thuringia state with 32.8% of the support, while the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) came in second with 23.6%. This result marked the first time a far-right party won a state election in Germany since World War II.

Meanwhile, in the state of Saxony, the CDU narrowly led the AfD with 31.8% of the vote compared to 30.7%. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition, consisting of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Green Party, all suffered major "losses" in both states. Although the results of this local election did not cause much disruption to German politics, these will be "time bombs", ready to explode in the next German parliamentary election, scheduled for September 2025.

In addition, what AfD has achieved is a historic breakthrough, making this far-right party a political force with the position and ability to challenge the traditional parties that are in power in Germany, not to mention that the far-right will consider this a victory and an important stepping stone in spreading the far-right movement in Germany.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the election result “bitter” and “worrying”. The head of the German government also called on political parties to eliminate “right-wing extremists”.

“Our country cannot and must not get used to this. The AfD is harming Germany, weakening the economy, dividing society and damaging our reputation,” Olaf Scholz stressed. There is a good sign that so far no party has announced that it will agree to a coalition with the AfD, making it difficult for the far-right party to form a government.

However, the disillusionment of many voters in the East (due to the effects of economic and population decline as well as the feeling of not being treated fairly) requires the parties in the German government's ruling coalition to find a quick solution to regain voters' trust.

MINH CHAU