00:00it is an absolute disaster uh for the um for the mainstream parties um uh they are um they were
00:08already before the elections uh they were it's really struggling uh for popularity 85 percent
00:14uh were dissatisfied with Friedrich Merz and his government um but you know this uh the fact that
00:21so many people in this particular state were willing to vote for a far right alternative
00:25um it really is a disaster for mainstream german politics and i think to be honest they really
00:32don't know what to do about it you know we are seeing the rise in popularity of far-right parties
00:38across a number of countries but i'm wondering if there's something unique in the history or the
00:44people of this particular state that has drawn them to afd well so two things to say first of all
00:51um that's correct uh such parties are on the rise elsewhere but this is a particularly extreme
00:58manifestation both the afd in general and also actually particularly the afd in saxony and
01:02halton one or two other states so the intelligence services say that it's confirmed right-wing
01:07extremists in this state uh and uh you know really you don't have to look very far to find evidence
01:13of
01:13that um in terms of the factors driving it um some bits about economic dissatisfaction um it did
01:19particularly well amongst voters who feel that their own economic position uh was poor for example
01:23so that was you know that was a thing but there are also some east german specifics as well not
01:28so
01:28much necessarily just saxony and hal but for example in eastern germany support for uh germany's
01:34backing for ukraine and its war with russia um is lower um and there's a strong sense amongst many
01:40east germans that they uh feel like second-class citizens um that their life's work isn't being
01:46recognized that they don't have the same opportunities as those in the west do you think
01:50this could be just the start of far-right wins in germany we know there are two more state elections
01:54this
01:55month so i think they will be different um mecklenburg west pomerania um is going to be a close run
02:03thing between the afd and the social democrats uh but i think there will be a majority uh for mainstream
02:10parties there and in berlin it's a complicated five-way uh contest the afd isn't going to get
02:16anywhere near government in berlin um but but i think yeah the longer-term implications are more
02:21significant in particular what seems to be happening is that uh the mainstream parties work together to
02:27keep the afd out and in doing so that just seems to make the afd get stronger um and you
02:32know increasingly
02:33you have girl parties in government that don't really get along that find it very difficult to agree on
02:38common agenda they're forced together in order to keep the afd out and again then it looks like
02:42things aren't working and the voters get frustrated by it
