The far-right party was forced to reduce its number of candidates for an upcoming regional election in eastern Germany. A state constitutional court said part of that decision was "highly likely illegal."
Image: Getty Images/R. Hartmann
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The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has won a partial legal victory after a constitutional court in Saxony overruled the state's decision to limit the party's number of candidates.
The state's electoral commission reduced the candidate list from 61 to 18 for state elections in September because the party only elected the first 18 candidates at the same party convention.
The commission also rejected the candidates ranked 31 to 61 because they were elected using different voting procedures to the candidates from the top half of the list.
The constitutional court said the decision to reject the candidates ranked 19 to 30 was "highly likely illegal," but it agreed with the commission's reasoning for blocking the bottom half of the list.
The judges said barring any of the first 30 candidates could trigger a re-run of the election if the alleged discrepancies proved to be false.
Germany's major political parties — What you need to know
There are seven political parties in the German Bundestag and they rarely agree on anything. DW takes a look at their ideologies, leadership and history.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Schmidt
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
The CDU has traditionally been the main center-right party across Germany, but it shifted toward the center under Chancellor Angela Merkel. The party remains more fiscally and socially conservative compared to parties on the left. It supports membership of the EU and NATO, budgetary discipline at home and abroad and generally likes the status quo. It is the largest party in the Bundestag.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Schmidt
Christian Social Union (CSU)
The CSU is the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria and the two act symbiotically at the national level (CDU/CSU). Despite their similarities, the CSU is generally more conservative than the CDU on social issues. The CSU leader and premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, ordered crosses in every state building in 2018.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Schuldt
Social Democrats (SPD)
The SPD is Germany's oldest political party and the main center-left rival of the CDU/CSU. It shares the CDU/CSU support for the EU and NATO, but it takes a more progressive stance on social issues and welfare policies. It is currently in a coalition government with the CDU/CSU and is trying to win back support under interim leaders Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, Manuela Schwesig and Malu Dreyer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Kumm
Alternative for Germany (AfD)
The new kid on the block is the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. The far-right party was founded in 2013 and entered the Bundestag for the first time in 2017 under the stewardship of Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland. It is largely united by opposition to Merkel's immigration policy, euroscepticism, and belief in the alleged dangers posed by Germany's Muslim population.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Deck
Free Democrats (FDP)
The FDP has traditionally been the kingmaker of German politics. Although it has never received more than 15 percent of the vote, it has formed multiple coalition governments with both the CDU/CSU and SPD. The FDP, today led by Christian Lindner, supports less government spending and lower taxes, but takes a progressive stance on social issues such as gay marriage or religion.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Kumm
The Greens
The Greens, led today by Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, emerged from the environmental movement in the 1980s. Unsuprisingly, it supports efforts to fight climate change and protect the environment. It is also progressive on social issues. But strong divisions have occasionally emerged on other topics. The party famously split in the late 1990s over whether to use military force in Kosovo.
Image: picture-alliance/Eventpress Rekdal
The Left
The Left, led by Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger, is the most left-wing party in the Bundestag. It supports major redistribution of wealth at home and a pacifist stance abroad, including withdrawing Germany from NATO. It emerged from the successor party to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that ruled communist East Germany until 1989. Today, it still enjoys most of its support in eastern Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
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Polling strong in Saxony
The head of the AfD in the eastern state said the ruling "eliminated the great risk that after the election we would have had a state parliament that did not reflect the will of Saxony's voters."
The prior restriction on the candidate list could have resulted in the party failing to fill all of its newly won seats in the state assembly. Based on current polls, the party might hope to win in the region of 30 seats in the parliament.
The head of the region's center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Henning Homann, said "the court has made an important decision because it protects democracy in Saxony."
His party later issued a statement saying it was "not satisfied" with the decision.
The constitutional court is expected to issue a final verdict in the case on August 16.
