SAHRA WAGENKNECHT and her new left-wing alliance, BSW, look set to keep the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) from gaining power in Thuringia — despite the AfD’s victory in Sunday’s state election.

The success of the AfD in two state elections piled new pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s struggling government.

Chancellor Scholz described the results as “worrying.”

He said: “The AfD is damaging Germany.

“It is weakening the economy, dividing society and ruining our country’s reputation.”

The AfD win in Thuringia was the first state victory by a far-right party in post-World War II Germany.

They won 32.8 per cent of the vote under one of its hardest-right figures, Bjorn Hocke. 

The CDU was second with 23.6 per cent followed by the BSW on 15.8 per cent.

In neighbouring Saxony, the CDU won around 31.8 per cent, while the AfD secured around 31.4 per cent.

The vote share for the SPD was around 6 per cent in Thuringia and 7 per cent in Saxony.

Voters punished the three parties in Chancellor Scholz’s governing coalition, which took well under 15 per cent of the vote between them.

Deep discontent with the national government’s economic record, anti-immigration sentiment and scepticism towards military aid for Ukraine are among the factors that contributed to decimating the national coalition parties in eastern Germany. 

The support of the BSW will be needed to form state governments since all the other main parties have said they were not prepared to govern with AfD.

Ms Wagenknecht told a news conference today that her party “have become a power factor in Germany.”

She said the BSW has a mandate in both regions to help form governments that “really represent the people again.”

She added: “It’s very much food for thought for all the parties, especially those who have governed at the federal and regional levels.”

CDU lawmaker Jens Spahn told ZDF television that voters “want to send a signal to the [coalition] that the chancellor no longer has their confidence.”

To create a majority the CDU would need help from the Left Party, which is descended from East Germany’s communist party.

So far, they have refused to work with it.