Merz says party's defeat in Saxony-Anhalt vote no reason to resign as German chancellor

Merz says party's defeat in Saxony-Anhalt vote no reason to resign as German chancellor The German chancellor explained that he sees it as his duty, as well as the federal government's, to "open up opportunities for the next generation"BERLIN, September 7. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he does not feel a need to step down amid his Christian Democrat Union (CDU) party's loss in Sunday’s election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. "I am thinking non-stop about how we can return to working successfully across party lines. Giving up is not an option for me," Merz said at a news conference in Berlin, fielding questions about his potential resignation in the wake of the outcome of the Saxony-Anhalt election. Merz explained that he sees it as his duty, as well as the federal government's, to "open up opportunities for the next generation." "Our responsibility, including my personal responsibility, is exactly to make sure our children and grandchildren have the same opportunity to live in a country such as Germany in an atmosphere of freedom, peace and prosperity. This is our responsibility. And I do not dodge this responsibility," the German leader said. The Saxony-Anhalt state parliament election was held on September 6. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a decisive victory with 43.8% of the vote, according to early official results. This was the AfD’s best-ever result in any German state, doubling its share of the vote from the previous state election five years ago. Merz’s CDU came in second, losing more than half of its vote share compared with 2021. The Christian Democrats received just 17.2% of the vote, the CDU’s worst-ever result in Saxony-Anhalt. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) scored third with 9.3% of the vote. The Greens received 8.9% and the Left Party 8.6%. The BSW (formerly the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance -- Reason and Justice) also cleared the threshold to enter the Landtag with 5.3%. Experts suggest that CDU's defeat reflects disillusionment that has grown in Germany for Merz's policy course, including toward Russia. 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