{ "story_id": "25c00a9454f37580c2d753457a6aca70", "desk": "drm3", "revision": 1, "published_at": "2026-09-05T04:22:00.000Z", "content_hash": "f9249cc31864db8cfbd014c77884e9face20e2ffed7b9bd24143f9d654ae044c", "hash_basis": "sha256 over `headline\\ndek\\nprose`, plus `\\n` + the canonical citations JSON when any source is placed, plus `\\n#blog` for blogs", "basis": { "headline": "German Chancellor Merz Faces Potential Fall After Regional Election Losses", "dek": "German Chancellor Friedrich Merz risks losing power if the far-right AfD wins upcoming regional elections.", "prose": "German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces a serious political challenge ahead of regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt scheduled for Sunday. [^1]\n\nThe far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is approaching a historic victory in the upcoming state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, which would mark the first time a far-right party has governed in Germany since the Second World War. [^2]\n\nThe German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is being analyzed for its rhetoric suggesting that the Nazi past should be distanced from current national identity. [^3]\n\nIf the AfD fails to win a majority, the CDU led by Merz would likely need to form a minority government relying on support from the far-left Die Linke. [^4]\n\nIf the AfD secures an absolute majority in the provincial parliament, it would mark the first time since World War II that the extreme right has gained real governing power under Merz's leadership. [^5]\n\nThe far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to win convincingly in Saxony-Anhalt according to pre-election polls. [^6]\n\nThe German intelligence service classified the Saxony-Anhalt branch of the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization. [^7]\n\nThe governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is under significant pressure following more than two decades of conservative rule. [^8]\n\nThe so-called German 'firewall' erected by mainstream political forces to prevent close cooperation with the far-right is facing its biggest test to date. [^9]\n\nAfD politicians claim that the cultural and political judgment of the Nazi past damages German national identity and leaves the population weak and divided. [^10]\n\nHans-Thomas Tillschneider, a state parliament member of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, stated that the goal is not to make Germans forget the Nazi past, but to ensure it is no longer treated as an urgent problem that weighs on people's consciousness. [^11]\n\nThe AfD is currently leading opinion polls in the Saxony-Anhalt state election, scheduled for June, with a possibility of securing a majority in the state parliament. 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