Germany's AfD unveils 100-day plan ahead of pivotal state election

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) unveiled an action plan on Saturday highlighting more immigration detention centres and a compulsory work scheme for asylum seekers as priorities if it comes to power in a German state election for the first time later this year.

Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's candidate for premier in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, presented a programme for the party's first 100 days in office at a congress in the state capital, Magdeburg.

The anti-immigrant party has been polling well ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of the election on September 6, while also leading surveys in north-eastern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which votes two weeks later alongside Berlin.

The AfD has never participated in a state coalition, as all other mainstream parties refuse working with it in a policy known as the "firewall."

But the latest survey last week showed the AfD on 41% in Saxony-Anhalt, which could be close to earning it an absolute majority in the state parliament, depending on how many minor parties miss out on the 5% threshold needed to win seats.

This would allow the AfD to bypass the firewall and take control of a state government for the first time, and the party leadership on Saturday outlined their pledge to implement 10 key points immediately following a victory in September.

Alongside expanding detention centres and work requirements for asylum seekers, the 100-day programme includes special classes for the children of asylum seekers and security guards at what it refers to as "problem schools."

The AfD also wants to terminate state broadcasting agreements, reduce funding for party-affiliated foundations and democracy programmes, and provide support for driving licences. The rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBT+ community, would be banned; instead, the German national flag would be displayed in schools, the party said.

"People want political change," Siegmund said. "All the other parties are only concerned with us now; they have no positions of their own." He said the AfD has breathed new life into politics.

Experts have warned that the plans outlined in the 100-day programme would face significant legal and logistical hurdles.

At the party congress, delegates re-elected Martin Reichardt as AfD state chairman with 191 votes in favour to 23 against. Reichardt has led the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt since 2018 and is a member of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament.

He recently found himself at the centre of a scandal after a podcast investigation alleged that he gave the Nazi salute in the presence of party colleagues. A photo taken in 2020 and shared by the Politico podcast "Inside the AfD" shows Reichardt extending his left arm. Several politicians subsequently called on the chairman to resign.

The Saxony-Anhalt branch of the AfD is classified as a confirmed far-right extremist organization by the domestic intelligence services. The regional chapter has around 3,500 members.

The state is currently governed by a coalition of the CDU, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Free Democrats.