The first AfD state parliament president elected in Saxony-Anhalt

For the first time in Germany, an AfD politician, MP Tobias Rausch in Saxony-Anhalt, has been elected president of the state parliament. The 35-year-old received 48 votes in the Magdeburg state parliament and thus the necessary majority.

Nine MPs outside his own parliamentary group voted for Rausch, who is currently parliamentary manager of the AfD parliamentary group and general secretary of the state party - the BSW, which has five seats in the state parliament, had officially declared its support for the AfD candidate in advance.

Rausch promises non-partisan administration

The election was secret, so it is not known from which camp Rausch received the other votes. The CDU parliamentary group had recommended that its 15 MPs abstain from the vote. The SPD, the Greens and the Left, which each have eight MPs, had declared their rejection.

In his inaugural speech, Rausch tried to dispel concerns about his administration: "I will not hold this office as president of a parliamentary group, but rather as president of the entire state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt," said the 35-year-old, "and I would like to live up to this claim."

The Prime Minister will not be elected until December

The election of a new Prime Minister is not yet on the agenda in this constitutive session of the state parliament. AfD election winner Ulrich Siegmund had announced that he would stand for election in December. He was convinced that he would receive the necessary majority, even though the other parties did not want to enter into a coalition with the AfD. Prime Minister Sven Schulze of the CDU will remain in office until a new head of government is successfully elected.