Competition for Siegmund – the Left is sending its own candidate into the prime ministerial election

In addition to Ulrich Siegmund from the AfD, left-wing parliamentary group leader Eva von Angern will also be running in the election of the Prime Minister in Saxony-Anhalt. After the state executive committee, the parliamentary group also decided that von Angern would run for the first two ballots, said Left state chairman and state parliament member Hendrik Lange.

"We clearly associate our candidacy with a political alternative to the AfD. We also combine this with our demand and our commitment for more social cohesion, for social security and the affordability of life."

Von Angern said that with her candidacy she wanted to set an example against the division in the country. "We want to show an alternative. We are not the rabbit in front of the snake." Your candidacy is also an offer to the democratic factions. Von Angern was the left's top candidate in the state election campaign. The 49-year-old lawyer has been a member of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt since 2002.

Siegmund had announced that he would stand for election as Prime Minister in December. With him as the top candidate, the AfD won the state elections in September with almost 44 percent, well ahead of the CDU, but missed an absolute majority.

The AfD has 39 of the 83 seats in the new state parliament, the Left has 8. In the first two rounds of voting, a candidate needs at least 42 votes - so Siegmund would need three votes from other factions. In the third round, the majority of votes cast is sufficient.

Von Angern would only have a chance of becoming Prime Minister if the CDU, SPD, Greens, BSW and Left voted together for her. That is considered unlikely.