The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has won a partial legal victory after a constitutional court in Saxony overruled the state's decision to limit the party's number of candidates.

The state's electoral commission reduced the candidate list from 61 to 18 for state elections in September because the party only elected the first 18 candidates at the same party convention.

Read more: Germany's conservatives divided on how to cope with far-right AfD

The commission also rejected the candidates ranked 31 to 61 because they were elected using different voting procedures to the candidates from the top half of the list.

The constitutional court said the decision to reject the candidates ranked 19 to 30 was "highly likely illegal," but it agreed with the commission's reasoning for blocking the bottom half of the list.

The judges said barring any of the first 30 candidates could trigger a re-run of the election if the alleged discrepancies proved to be false.

Read more: How artists in eastern Germany fight the rise of the far-right

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Christian Democratic Union (CDU) The CDU has traditionally been the main center-right party across Germany, but it shifted toward the center under Chancellor Angela Merkel. The party remains more fiscally and socially conservative compared to parties on the left. It supports membership of the EU and NATO, budgetary discipline at home and abroad and generally likes the status quo. It is the largest party in the Bundestag.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Christian Social Union (CSU) The CSU is the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria and the two act symbiotically at the national level (CDU/CSU). Despite their similarities, the CSU is generally more conservative than the CDU on social issues. The CSU leader and premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, ordered crosses in every state building in 2018.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Social Democrats (SPD) The SPD is Germany's oldest political party and the main center-left rival of the CDU/CSU. It shares the CDU/CSU support for the EU and NATO, but it takes a more progressive stance on social issues and welfare policies. It is currently in a coalition government with the CDU/CSU and is trying to win back support under interim leaders Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, Manuela Schwesig and Malu Dreyer.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Alternative for Germany (AfD) The new kid on the block is the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. The far-right party was founded in 2013 and entered the Bundestag for the first time in 2017 under the stewardship of Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland. It is largely united by opposition to Merkel's immigration policy, euroscepticism, and belief in the alleged dangers posed by Germany's Muslim population.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Free Democrats (FDP) The FDP has traditionally been the kingmaker of German politics. Although it has never received more than 15 percent of the vote, it has formed multiple coalition governments with both the CDU/CSU and SPD. The FDP, today led by Christian Lindner, supports less government spending and lower taxes, but takes a progressive stance on social issues such as gay marriage or religion.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know The Greens The Greens, led today by Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, emerged from the environmental movement in the 1980s. Unsuprisingly, it supports efforts to fight climate change and protect the environment. It is also progressive on social issues. But strong divisions have occasionally emerged on other topics. The party famously split in the late 1990s over whether to use military force in Kosovo.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know The Left The Left, led by Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger, is the most left-wing party in the Bundestag. It supports major redistribution of wealth at home and a pacifist stance abroad, including withdrawing Germany from NATO. It emerged from the successor party to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that ruled communist East Germany until 1989. Today, it still enjoys most of its support in eastern Germany. Author: Alexander Pearson



Polling strong in Saxony

The head of the AfD in the eastern state said the ruling "eliminated the great risk that after the election we would have had a state parliament that did not reflect the will of Saxony's voters."

The far-right party is polling neck and neck with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) in the eastern state, at around 24% to 26%.

The prior restriction on the candidate list could have resulted in the party failing to fill all of its newly won seats in the state assembly. Based on current polls, the party might hope to win in the region of 30 seats in the parliament.

The head of the region's center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Henning Homann, said "the court has made an important decision because it protects democracy in Saxony."

His party later issued a statement saying it was "not satisfied" with the decision.

The constitutional court is expected to issue a final verdict in the case on August 16.

amp/msh (AFP, dpa)

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