The 2004 Saxony state election was held on 19 September 2004 to elect the members of the 4th

Landtag of Saxony The Landtag of Saxony (), also known in English as the Saxon State Parliament, is the legislature of the Free State of Saxony, one of Germany's sixteen states. It is responsible for legislation, control of the government, and electing some sta ...

. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by Minister-President

Georg Milbradt Georg Milbradt (born 23 February 1945) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister-President of Saxony from 2002 to 2008. Early life Milbradt was born in Eslohe. His family originally was from Wągrowie ...

lost its majority. The CDU subsequently formed a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD), and Milbradt was re-elected as Minister-President. The Far Right

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD) won 12 seats. This is the first time since the 1960s that the party had seats in a state parliament.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Saxony.

Opinion polling

Election result

, - , colspan=8 align=center, SN Landtagswahl 2004

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! Seats % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align= 855,203 , align= 41.1 , align= 15.8 , align= 55 , align= 21 , align= 44.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) , align= 490,488 , align= 23.6 , align= 1.4 , align= 31 , align= 1 , align= 25.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

(SPD) , align= 204,438 , align= 9.8 , align= 0.9 , align= 13 , align= 1 , align= 10.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , National Democratic Party (NPD) , align= 190,909 , align= 9.2 , align= 7.8 , align= 12 , align= 12 , align= 9.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align= 122,605 , align= 5.9 , align= 4.8 , align= 7 , align= 7 , align= 5.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , align= 106,771 , align= 5.1 , align= 2.5 , align= 6 , align= 6 , align= 4.8 , - ! colspan=8, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,

Human Environment Animal Protection Party The Human Environment Animal Protection Party (, short form: Animal Protection Party, ) is a political party in Germany, founded in 1993. In 2014, the party elected one Member of the European Parliament, MEP to the European Parliament, and it has ...

(Tierschutz) , align= 34,068 , align= 1.6 , align= 1.6 , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Others , align= 75,652 , align= 3.6 , align= , align= 0 , align= ±0 , align= 0 , - ! align=right colspan=2, Total ! align= 2,080,135 ! align= 100.0 ! align= ! align= 124 ! align= 4 ! align= , - ! align=right colspan=2, Voter turnout ! align= ! align= 59.6 ! align= 1.5 ! align= ! align= ! align=

Outcome

The most striking result of the election was the entrance of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) into the Landtag with 12 seats. This gained international attention. The party's support was concentrated in the rural areas; commentators attributed its success to alienation stemming from economic depression. The continuing strength of the SED successor party, the Party of Democratic Socialism, which again was the second largest party, was also notable. The CDU remained the largest party with 55 of 124 seats, but lost its majority, forcing it to find coalition partners. The most logical was the

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

Free Democratic Party, who entered the Landtag in the election, but a CDU–FDP government would be one seat short of the necessary majority. Cooperation with the PDS or

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

was ideologically unfeasible. A theoretical alliance between the CDU and NPD would hold a majority, but this was out of the question. The result was a

CDU and SPD. This government outcome was later mirrored in the 2005 federal election. The CDU's Georg Milbradt remained in office as Minister-President. Notably, the NPD received two more votes on the ballot for Minister-President than it had members in the Landtag. It is presumed that two CDU Landtag members backed the NPD as a protest against the grand coalition.

Notes

Sources

The Federal Returning Officer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxony State Election, 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...