German far-right set for big win in eastern state - projections

Germany's AfD is heading for a big victory in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, far ahead of its mainstream rivals, according to initial projections. It is not yet clear if that would be enough to take power in the state but the AfD says it has won a mandate to govern.The far-right party is set to win more than 44% of the vote, well ahead of the conservative CDU on 18.2%.The AfD has hailed the result as a "historic outcome" and its charismatic leader in the state, Ulrich Siegmund, has refused to govern with any other party.No far-right party has won control of a state in Germany since World War Two, and governing at state level would mean powers over policing, local education and culture.Saxony-Anhalt has a small population of 2.1 million and the AfD in the state is assessed by domestic intelligence as "right-wing extremist", a classification rejected by Siegmund.The AfD's projected result is higher than earlier opinion polls suggested, and Siegmund along with joint national leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla were overjoyed as the news emerged.However, party leaders will not know if they have enough seats to govern until they see which of the smaller parties get into the state parliament.That may hinge on whether one of the smaller parties gets over the required threshold of 5%.