It is a historic moment in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt when senior president Eva von Angern (Left) announces the vote results. The AfD candidate Tobias Rausch received 48 yes votes, 29 MPs voted no, five abstained.
“You have been elected President of the State Parliament and I congratulate you on that,” says von Angern to applause from MPs from the AfD and BSW. Rausch, previously parliamentary manager of the AfD parliamentary group, hugs Ulrich Siegmund and accepts the election.
Where do the extra votes come from?
48 yes votes, which is four more votes than the AfD and the BSW, which had previously announced its support for Rausch, had together. Where do the extra votes come from for the AfD politician, whose regional association is classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt?
For Heidi Reichinnek, the parliamentary group leader of the Left in the Bundestag, it is clear that these votes in the secret election came from the CDU - as did the 5 abstentions.
Leftists also criticize the abstentions
“This is the next big step towards the seizure of power by a party that is the spiritual heir to those who led this country into its darkest time,” says Reichinnek, a native of Saxony-Anhalt, with a trembling voice. And sent a broadside against the CDU. "Against this background, anyone who abstains has no stance. Anyone who gives their vote to a right-wing extremist has lost every right to call themselves a democrat."
As CDU chairman, Friedrich Merz must ensure that there is "not a single vote for the right-wing extremist AfD" from his party in the election of the Prime Minister, demands Reichinnek. The election of the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt is planned for December. Then AfD leading candidate Siegmund wants to stand for the vote.
CDU votes for intoxication? Frei speaks of “speculation”
Did the four extra votes for the AfD state parliament president actually come from the CDU? Thorsten Frei, the Union parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, describes this as “pure speculation” and points out that the election was secret. Frei called the fact that Rausch received more votes than the AfD and BSW have seats in the Magdeburg state parliament “highly questionable and worrying.”
Cautious tones come from the coalition partner SPD. Parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch is clearly trying not to add fuel to the fire in order not to further burden the coalition climate. The choice of Rausch, who was also involved in the nepotism affair of his regional association, was “more than questionable,” said Miersch.
The fact that CDU members of the state parliament apparently did not adhere to their own group's requirement to abstain from voting will be addressed in the coalition committee on Wednesday, Miersch announced.
AfD celebrates “end of exclusion”
The AfD, on the other hand, is happy about its first state parliament president. The years of exclusion of their party have finally come to an end, said the two federal chairmen Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel. Weidel added that she hopes that the CDU will return to reason at the federal level.
"In a democracy you have to talk to each other. You can't hide behind an undemocratic firewall," said Weidel before the meeting of the AfD parliamentary group.
Greens criticize CDU and BSW
Green party leader Britta Haßelmann, on the other hand, speaks of a “depressing day for democracy”. She described the CDU's apparent voting behavior as "irresponsible".
But the BSW also got rid of its fat: The fact that the BSW was making itself the AfD's majority procurer at this point was an "inexcusable, outrageous process," criticized the Green politician. “This party has therefore completely left the democratic spectrum,” said Haßelmann.
Before the vote in Magdeburg, BSW party founder Sahra Wagenknecht described it as "a given" that the AfD, as the strongest faction, would also provide the president of the state parliament.
