The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the CDU and SPD led by Minister-President Michael Kretschmer.

The Left also suffered losses, while the Greens recorded a modest improvement and moved into fourth place ahead of the SPD.

[2] The SPD called for exploratory talks the day after the election; on 7 September, the CDU and Greens also voted to open discussions.

[5] The CDU and SPD voted on 11 October to begin coalition negotiations, followed by the Greens the next day.

The parties intended to unveil their draft agreement on 22 November, but were delayed by conflicts over the distribution of cabinet departments.