The AfD cannot fill around 40 municipal seats in Brandenburg. Of a total of 861 seats won in the local elections on June 9, 41 are vacant, the regional association told the dpa news agency on Wednesday. More seats were won there than there were candidates available. Most of the vacant seats are in the Elbe-Elster district in the south and Prignitz in the north.
The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) also experienced the phenomenon in East German municipalities. Matthias Nowak, press spokesman for the city of Chemnitz, explained to broadcaster MDR what happens to the unfilled seats: “That means that this seat will remain empty permanently.” No one can be replaced, because mandates can only be awarded through elections, Nowak stressed. Seats that become vacant later because the elected person has other commitments or is ill for a longer period of time will also remain unfilled until the next election.
The AfD received 25.7 percent of the vote in the local elections in Brandenburg, ahead of the CDU with 19.3 percent and the SPD, which received 16.6 percent. A new state parliament will be elected in Brandenburg on September 22nd.
The “Bild” newspaper wrote on Wednesday that the AfD had lost more than 50 seats after the local elections in eastern German states. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, the AfD was only able to fill one of the four seats it won on the city council in Ludwigslust, and in Strasbourg it was only able to fill four of the six seats on the council.
The “Sächsische Zeitung” wrote on Wednesday that the AfD could not fill more than 100 municipal mandates in Saxony.