The general secretary of Germany ' s centre - left Social Democrats ( SPD ), Kevin K hnert , acknowledged his party ' s mediocre expected performance in a pair of state parliamentary elections on Sunday . It was " not an evening to celebrate for the SPD ," K hnert said on television shortly after exit polls projected the party to finish in the single digits in the states of Saxony and Thuringia . At the same time , K hnert noted that the SPD - the party of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - has struggled for years in both states , which are located in the former communist East Germany . " There was a real danger of being thrown out of the state parliaments ," said K hnert , referring to polls which put the SPD near the 5 % threshold needed to take seats in German elections . " It ' s worth fighting , we are needed ," he said . " We have to fight to regain more strength ." dpa hrz jed xxde bst croSource: The Namibia News Agency