Before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the carousel of the candidates turned vigorously.
In 2021, the workforce will look different than five years ago.
Magdeburg - Five parties are currently represented in the state parliament, maybe there will be one more after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in 2021.
The majorities in the state look significantly different than the national trend and may give the parties cause for headaches.
While the CDU top candidate can have high hopes of remaining Prime Minister, the details of a new government coalition are still completely open.
Less than half a year before the election, the polls forecast a largely identical election result to 2016. At the moment, black-red-green rules, although this alliance should be understood more as an anti-AfD coalition.
It is not an alliance of conviction.
The top candidates of the major parties for the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in 2021
Six parties have good prospects of entering the state parliament.
With the exception of the CDU, all of them will start the race with new top candidates in 2021.
Before you fill out your ballot, we'll show you who the parties will put in the front row this time.
CDU candidate Reiner Haseloff is a huge favorite in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt
Reiner Haseloff has been the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt since 2011.
His CDU is doing relatively well there.
An election result of around 30 percent, which the polls forecast at the beginning of the year, is no cause for exuberant joy for a people's party.
Basically, there is hardly a way around Haseloff when it comes to the next coalition.
An alliance with the AfD or the Left Party - which can probably set up in second and third place again - is basically ruled out for the CDU.
An important question for the Prime Minister is therefore: What happens if there is not enough for an alliance with the SPD, the Greens or perhaps the FDP at the last minute?
In a complicated election year it would be a devastating signal for the CDU if the top candidate could not organize a bourgeois majority.
AfD candidate Oliver Kirchner could remain opposition leader
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Oliver Kirchner leads the AfD in the election campaign for the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.
© dpa / Ronny Hartmann
The AfD will probably leave the 20 percent mark well behind in the state elections in 2021.
Accordingly, Oliver Kirchner should keep his role as opposition leader in the state parliament.
He has been a member of parliament since 2016 and has been the parliamentary group leader of the AfD since 2018.
Participation in the government is likely to continue to be ruled out, despite the polls.
The fact that there is a broad front against the AfD as a coalition partner is not least due to people like their top candidate.
Oliver Kirchner was a member of the group "Der Flügel", which operated on the right wing of the party.
In the last state election, the southpaw André Poggenburg led the AfD.
Left-wing candidate Eva von Angern probably has no power options with the LTW in Saxony-Anhalt
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Eva von Angern is the top candidate for Die Linke.
© dpa / Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert
Die Linke remains strong in the East, even if it is no longer so clearly noticeable in Saxony-Anhalt.
For top candidate Eva von Angern, after the state elections in 2021, there will probably be a double opposition role - on the one hand against the government and on the other hand against the AfD.
She has had a seat in the state parliament since 2002 and became co-chair of the Left parliamentary group in December 2020.
Their party was predicted to be around 16 percent at the beginning of the year.
If that doesn't change much, Eva von Angern leads Die Linke into a state parliament that looks almost exactly the same as it did before the election.
The desired result looks different for Die Linke, of course.
The last top candidate, Wulf Gallert, resigned from the parliamentary group's chairmanship after such a result.
SPD candidate Katja Pähle faces bitter state elections in Saxony-Anhalt
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The leader of the SPD parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt, Katja Pähle, is number 1 for the Social Democrats.
© dpa / Ronny Hartmann
The fall of the Social Democrats seems to have stopped before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in 2021.
The bad news for the SPD is that it has stabilized at around 10 percent since the last election.
One can no longer speak of a people's party in this state.
Nevertheless, with the candidate Katja Pähle, the SPD is relying on proven staff.
Pehle has been the parliamentary group leader in the state parliament since 2016.
It is clear that a result like the one in 2016 would still be a disaster for the SPD.
At that time, the top candidate Katrin Budde gave up her office because it was only enough for 10.6 percent of the vote.
Green candidate Cornelia Lüddemann is lacking nationwide upswing
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Cornelia Lüddemann leads the Greens in an election in which there is probably less to be won than in many other federal states.
© dpa / Hendrik Schmidt
In the year of the federal election, the Greens fly very high in many regions and are considered the major CDU competitor.
However, her top candidate Cornelia Lüddemann cannot expect this trend in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.
It is uncertain whether it will even be enough to achieve a double-digit result.
Lüddemann took over the chairmanship of the parliamentary group after the previous election in 2016. The post of Green Minister in the state government went to Claudia Dalbert, who this year no longer applied for a place on the list.
As a minister, the former top candidate would still be ready if the Greens were to rule again.
FDP candidate Lydia Hüskens is fighting for re-entry into the state parliament
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After ten years with the FDP, Lydia Hüskens wants to return to the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.
© dpa / Peter Gercke
The FDP in Saxony-Anhalt wants to overcome the 5 percent hurdle with a new top candidate.
Most recently, the party failed to achieve this goal twice in a row.
In 2021 Lydia Hüskens can lead the Liberals in the election campaign.
Despite the long absence of her party, Hüskens already has a long history in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.
She had a seat there from 2002 to 2011. In the meantime, she is the incumbent state chairwoman.
After only 0.1 percentage points were missing for entry into the state parliament in the last election, the FDP should be tight again this time.
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