SINCE reunification in 1990, Saxony has been the former East Germany’s biggest success story. As one of Germany’s 16 federal states since then, it has been governed continuously by the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU). Its education system is considered Germany’s best. Its economy is thriving, with world-class regional clusters in high-tech and carmaking. So there was never any question that Stanislaw Tillich, the state’s understated and popular CDU premier, would stay in power after Saxony’s election on August 31st. His party won more votes than the three leftist parties combined. With 39.4% of votes, Mr Tillich claimed victory.And yet that result was the CDU’s worst ever in Saxony, causing worries as the party approaches elections on September 14th in Thuringia and Brandenburg, also in former East Germany. The left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) and ecology-minded Greens have reason to fret, too. They all did worse than they had hoped, largely because they lost votes to a populist party to the right of the CDU: the Alternative for Germany, led by Frauke Petry (pictured).Founded last year, the Alternative began with only one policy: a call for the orderly…
