The 2014 Saxony state election was held on 31 August 2014 to elect the members of the 6th Landtag of Saxony. The incumbent

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) led by Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich was defeated as the FDP lost all its seats. The CDU subsequently formed a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD), and Tillich was re-elected as Minister-President.

Background

After the 2009 state election, held a month before the 2009 federal election, the CDU–SPD grand coalition left office and was replaced by a CDU-led coalition with the FDP. The FDP suffered a major decline in support nationally after 2009, culminating in their ejection from the Bundestag in the 2013 federal election. Thus, in the lead-up to the 2014 state election, the Saxony state government was the only government nationwide that included the FDP. It seemed unlikely this coalition could continue after the election, as polling indicated the FDP may not even pass the 5% threshold to enter the Landtag. The largest opposition party was The Left. Polling indicated that a coalition between The Left, the SPD and The Greens may have been able to secure a majority, but this option was rejected by both the SPD and the Greens prior to the election. For the SPD, the state election in Saxony was their second electoral test (after the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

) since becoming the junior partner in the federal grand coalition. Polls suggested that the public viewed the SPD's role in government as positive; issues that had been worked on by the government were primarily election promises of the SPD. Despite this, all polls showed that the SPD was headed for another third-place finish in the state election. The SPD's election campaign was centred on their lead candidate, Martin Dulig, who involved his family in the campaign. Dulig was also supported by former federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) was hoping to win seats in a state parliament for the first time. In both the 2013 federal election and the 2013 European elections, AfD had achieved its strongest results in Saxony (6.8% in the federal election and 10.1% in the European elections). The National Democratic Party (NPD) had won seats in Saxony in 2004 and retained them, with losses, in 2009. Polling and election results for the NPD had trended downwards since then, with most polls suggesting the party would not cross the 5% threshold and would thus lose their representation. The

Pirate Party Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...

won 1.9% of the vote in the previous state election. Despite polling in late 2011 and 2012 showing its support up to as much as 9% in Saxony, the party lost most of its popularity throughout 2013, and the party had averaged around 2% in Saxony since the end of the year.

Pre-election coalition talks

Polls suggested that the CDU would again be the largest party. Minister-President Tillich was therefore expected to lead coalition negotiations. In addition to the SPD, the Greens hoped for a coalition with the CDU, but a "black-green" coalition was considered unlikely because the Greens oppose coal mining in Saxony. Prior to the election, Tillich was open to coalitions with the FDP, the SPD, the Greens or AfD. Carsten Linnemann, the chairman of the CDU/CSU Business Association, stated that a coalition with the Greens was a viable alternative if the FDP did not obtain any seats. Tillich did not rule out a coalition with AfD, though CDU general-secretary

Peter Tauber Peter Michael Tauber (born 22 August 1974) is a former German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from 2009 to 2021. From 16 December 2013 to 26 February 2018 he served as Secretary General ...

spoke out against the possibility. The Left was unlikely to overtake the CDU, according to polls. The party wanted to form a coalition with the SPD in particular. The SPD, however, were sceptical about such an arrangement. The NPD was not considered in coalition discussions.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 5th Landtag of Saxony.

Opinion polling

Election result

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align= 645,515 , align= 39.4 , align= 0.8 , align= 59 , align= 1 , align= 46.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , The Left (Linke) , align= 309,581 , align= 18.9 , align= 1.7 , align= 27 , align= 2 , align= 21.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

(SPD) , align= 202,396 , align= 12.4 , align= 2.0 , align= 18 , align= 4 , align= 14.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

(AfD) , align= 159,611 , align= 9.7 , align= New , align= 14 , align= New , align= 11.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(Grüne) , align= 93,857 , align= 5.7 , align= 0.7 , align= 8 , align= 1 , align= 6.4 , - ! colspan=8, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , National Democratic Party (NPD) , align= 81,051 , align= 4.9 , align= 0.7 , align= 0 , align= 8 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

(FDP) , align= 61,840 , align= 3.8 , align= 6.2 , align= 0 , align= 14 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Free Voters (FW) , align= 26,434 , align= 1.6 , align= 0.2 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Human Environment Animal Protection The Human Environment Animal Protection Party (german: Partei Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz, short form: Animal Protection Party, german: Tierschutzpartei, links=no) is a political party in Germany, founded in 1993. In 2014 one candidate was elected ...

(Tierschutz) , align= 18,611 , align= 1.1 , align= 1.0 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , align= 18,157 , align= 1.1 , align= 0.8 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Others , align= 20,547 , align= 1.3 , align= , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - ! align=right colspan=2, Total ! align= 1,637,499 ! align= 100.0 ! align= ! align= 126 ! align= 6 ! align= , - ! align=right colspan=2, Voter turnout ! align= ! align= 49.1 ! align= 3.1 ! align= ! align= ! align=

Government formation

Due to the ejection of the FDP from the Landtag, the CDU was forced to seek new coalition partners. Minister-President Tillich ruled out a coalition with AfD. The CDU held exploratory talks with the Greens and the SPD. Talks with the Greens were inconclusive; the Greens claimed that education policy and energy policy were the sticking points. Antje Hermenau, the Greens' lead candidate, then resigned on 20 September. Coalition talks began on 19 September between the CDU and the SPD. On 9 November 2014, the SPD announced that 82.2% of its members had voted in favour of the coalition agreement between the CDU and SPD.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxony state election, next 2014 elections in Germany Elections in Saxony August 2014 events in Germany