Head of German state of Saxony says deal with populist BSW 'possible'

The incumbent premier in the eastern German state of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, said on Monday in the wake of fresh elections in his state that his centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) could find common ground with the upstart populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).

Kretschmer's CDU scored a narrow victory with 31.9% of the vote, according to preliminary official results. But his current coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens won't hold a majority in the next parliament.

That's in part due to big gains by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who surged to 30.6%, according to the preliminary results. But the CDU and every other party has categorically ruled out any cooperation with the AfD, who are viewed as too extreme and beyond the bounds of mainstream German politics.

That makes the BSW, which finished third with 11.8% of the vote, a crucial potential partner. The party has campaigned on a mix of opposition to immigration, far-left economic policies and right-wing stances on some social issues such as gender policy.

But the BSW's roots in Germany's extreme left make it an uncomfortable fit for the CDU. The party's founder and namesake, Sahra Wagenknecht, was once a member of communist East Germany's ruling SED party and in the 1990s and 2000s was a leading figure of the communist fringe.

"It won't be easy, it will take time, but it is possible," Kretschmer said about an alliance with the BSW in a Monday morning interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.

Kretschmer warned that there could be months of tough coalition talks ahead. He said his CDU would follow its "values" but set "party ideologies" aside to focus on the "content" of any deal.

"We are not forming a coalition with Ms Wagenknecht, but with people who have been elected to the Saxon state parliament," he said.