{"text":[[{"start":10.56,"text":"Chancellor Friedrich Merz has come under immense pressure after his party’s heavy defeat in Saxony-Anhalt, where voters propelled Alternative for Germany to the cusp of power in the eastern state."}],[{"start":23.04,"text":"Merz said he and his centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) were all “deeply shocked” by the record result for their far-right rival."}],[{"start":32.08,"text":"The AfD, which won almost 44 per cent of the vote, is now within reach of governing at the state level for the first time in its 13-year history."}],[{"start":41,"text":"Returning to “business as usual” was not an option for his chastened party, Merz admitted, after voters shunned the political establishment and deepened the challenge facing the unpopular chancellor."}],[{"start":53.32,"text":"The CDU suffered its worst result in the region since German reunification more than three decades ago, winning just 17.3 per cent of the vote."}],[{"start":62.96,"text":"Alexander Dobrindt, the federal interior minister and a member of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, described the outcome as a “political earthquake”, saying “opponents and critics of the system” now held more sway in the state than those from the political centre."}],[{"start":78.46,"text":"The election was decided by voters’ “fears, worries and frustrations”, he added as he called for urgent reforms."}],[{"start":85.16,"text":"On Monday night, the entire executive board of the CDU regional branch in Saxony-Anhalt announced it would step down and hold internal elections. Sven Schulze, the outgoing state premier, in effect resigned from his role as local party chair, saying he would not run again."}],[{"start":101.92,"text":"Asked whether he himself would consider stepping down, Merz said: “Giving up is not an option for me.” The chancellor said the CDU would draw lessons from the party’s “worst defeat” in decades."}],[{"start":113.02,"text":"A triumphant AfD hailed the outcome as a “dream result”, vowing to use it as a springboard to make electoral advances across Europe’s largest economy."}],[{"start":121.96,"text":"Speaking in Berlin on Monday, the party’s national co-leader Alice Weidel pledged to secure 40 per cent of the vote in the country’s next federal elections, due to be held by 2029."}],[{"start":134.64,"text":"The CDU and the Christian Social Union would “never be able to win a federal election again”, Weidel predicted, pointing to the lead the AfD commands over the CDU in national polls."}],[{"start":145.96,"text":"“My stated goal is to significantly widen the gap in a very short period of time and to grow to at least 40 per cent for the next federal election,” she said."}],[{"start":156.56,"text":"Led in Saxony-Anhalt by Ulrich Siegmund, a 35-year-old former fragrance salesperson, the AfD tapped into discontent with the state’s economic malaise, demographic decline and nostalgia for some aspects of life before German reunification."}],[{"start":173.12,"text":"Its campaign centred on migration, promising a “deportation and remigration offensive” against “illegal” migrants as well as railing against “culturally alien” foreigners."}],[{"start":183.84,"text":"It pledged to alter school curricula to focus less on Germany’s Nazi history and to create financial incentives to encourage families to have more children to boost the state’s rapidly shrinking population."}],[{"start":195.68,"text":"The party, which opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine and wants to resume gas purchases from Moscow, also promised to expand Russian language lessons in schools to help rebuild cultural ties with the country."}],[{"start":208.32,"text":"Weidel said the AfD’s result — driven in large part by the “extremely high” mobilisation of people who had not previously voted — had inflicted “a debacle” on the CDU."}],[{"start":218.44,"text":"Despite recording the best result by any political party in Saxony-Anhalt since reunification, the AfD fell three seats short of being able to form an absolute majority in the state parliament."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":230,"text":"As the country’s establishment reeled from the scale of the AfD’s success, it was unclear whether the party would be able to forge a coalition government."}],[{"start":238.6,"text":"Germany’s established parties have in recent years adopted a “firewall” strategy in which they have refused to go into government with the AfD."}],[{"start":247.12,"text":"Only the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), a two-year-old anti-capitalist party that is about to enter Saxony-Anhalt’s parliament for the first time, has said it is open to discussions."}],[{"start":257.78,"text":"The BSW, a spin-off from the hard-left Die Linke party, has indicated it is prepared to support Siegmund by abstaining in a ballot to elect him as state premier."}],[{"start":267.8,"text":"This could pave the way for the AfD candidate to become the first far-right premier of a German state in the country’s postwar history."}],[{"start":275.52,"text":"Siegmund has also said he wants to explore whether some members of Merz’s CDU could be willing to defect to the AfD."}],[{"start":283.08,"text":"Sitting alongside Weidel and AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla in Berlin on Monday, Siegmund said his party had won a “very clear mandate” but promised to “stay true” to the party’s values and policies as he sought partners to form a government."}],[{"start":297.2,"text":"“We will, of course, hold discussions and see whether there are individual groups or individual lawmakers willing to join us in taking on this historic task,” he said."}],[{"start":307.78,"text":"The election in Saxony-Anhalt is the first in a series, with voters going to the polls in the city-state of Berlin and the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on September 20."}],[{"start":318.28,"text":"The AfD is polling strongly in both states. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU is polling below 10 per cent."}],[{"start":330.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788826704_1326.mp3"}