Service employee in Erfurt subjected to red substance spraying
At an event in Erfurt during Thuringia's election, BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht encountered an unforeseen incident, causing her to briefly exit the stage. She was subjected to a red liquid spray and a light hit. A suspect was quickly apprehended and removed by security personnel. The event resumed shortly after the incident, which occurred just following Wagenknecht's speech.
According to polls by Infratest, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, and Insa, BSW stands at third place in Thuringia with probabilities ranging from 17% to 20%. Despite The Left still maintaining double-digit values in the state, Minister President Bodo Ramelow is at the helm. The top concerns among voters are immigration, security, and education. Wagenknecht criticized the "naive" refugee policy post the Solingen folk festival attack, deeming uncontrolled migration as a source of uncontrollable violence.
Similarly in Saxony, the BSW polls at 11% to 15%, confirming a third-place ranking behind the CDU and AfD. The SPD, Greens, and FDP are significantly behind. The formation of both the Erfurt and Dresden governments is anticipated to be a challenging task, with potentially insufficient majorities for the CDU to rule alone in Saxony, and requiring BSW's support to do so with the AfD excluded.
In Thuringia, a CDU-BSW-SPD coalition remains a mathematical possibility, whereas a majority for the CDU in Saxony depends on BSW's participation, barring an AfD inclusion in the government.
Recently, Wagenknecht has made it clear that she seeks to form a government, but only under conditions of significant policy shifts. She is preoccupied with the possibility of BSW voters feeling disillusioned should no real changes occur. Her unusual conditions transcend state politics, involving negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to conclude the conflict. Strikingly, Wagenknecht herself intends to lead the federal party in coalition negotiations.
BSW is also campaigning on two non-state related issues: increasing the minimum wage and providing tax relief for people with modest pensions.
In relation to the polls, BSW in Thuringia and Saxony both secure third place, with probabilities ranging from 17% to 20% in Thuringia and 11% to 15% in Saxony. Following the incident at the event in Erfurt, BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht has been actively advocating for policy shifts and a potential government formation, emphasizing on increasing the minimum wage and providing tax relief for moderate pensioners.
