BSW refuses to back AfD candidate for Saxony-Anhalt premier

The left-wing populist party BSW has announced it will not vote for AfD's Ulrich Siegmund as minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt, leaving the state's government formation in deadlock following the AfD's 43.8 percent election victory on Sunday. The AfD, just three seats short of an absolute majority, faces a parliamentary arithmetic where BSW's five seats could prove decisive. BSW leader Amira Mohamed Ali confirmed the party's refusal to support Siegmund, though BSW has not ruled out cooperation with the far-right party on specific issues. AfD leaders have expressed openness to a minority government, which would require BSW abstention rather than active opposition. Siegmund has threatened new elections if no stable solution emerges, while an alternative cross-party candidate proposal is reportedly being prepared.