Germany’s far right AfD eyes election breakthrough in Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt elections: Germany's far-right AFD on track to secure majority

Mario Jung does not fit the profile of a political hardliner. The 59-year-old banking clerk, who lives in Magdeburg in eastern Germany, has voted for the country’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the past.

But he blames former Chancellor Angela Merkel for pushing the CDU to the left and on Sunday, in the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, he will back the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

“I am a conservative, and the main reason for me to vote for the (far-right) AfD is the economy,” he told Al Jazeera.

“All illegal immigrants, those whose applications have been denied, and criminal immigrants as well – they have to be deported; there is no question about it,” he said.

The regional elections pose a test for Germany’s political establishment, with the AfD in contention for top positions in the state government.

In Saxony-Anhalt, it is poised to become the first far-right force to head a German state government since World War II, with the AfD’s leading candidate, Ulrich Siegmund.

He was dubbed “Germany’s most dangerous man” by the influential magazine Der Spiegel. Before becoming a politician for the AfD, Siegmund was a member of the CDU.