Constituent state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt: AfD politician Rausch before election as parliamentary president

Exactly one month after the election in Saxony-Anhalt, the new state parliament was formed in Magdeburg. The most important item on the agenda is the election of the President of Parliament and his deputies.

With Tobias Rausch, a member of the AfD election winner, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as “certain right-wing extremist,” could become parliamentary speaker for the first time.

The new state parliament has 83 seats, 39 of which are occupied by the AfD parliamentary group. For the first time, this will not sit on the right but in the center of parliament.

The CDU parliamentary group only has 15 seats and will now sit on the far left in the plenary hall. To the right of the AfD parliamentary group are the eight MPs each from the Left, SPD and Greens, and on the far right is the BSW parliamentary group.

Before his possible election as state parliament president, AfD politician Tobias Rausch has not ruled out a new election in Saxony-Anhalt. With a view to the difficult formation of a government and the election of Ulrich Siegmund as Prime Minister in December, which the AfD is aiming for, Rausch told the broadcasters RTL and ntv: "If we don't have a majority in the first round of voting, we won't have a majority for the duration of the period either. Then parliament doesn't want us to govern." In that case, they will consider dissolving parliament.

In today's constitutive session of the state parliament, the parliamentary presidency will be elected, but not the prime minister. AfD candidate Siegmund had announced that he would stand for election in December. In doing so, at least in the first two rounds of voting, he is dependent on not only the votes from his group but also other votes from at least one other party. According to its own statements, the AfD is currently looking for support in discussions with the BSW and with individual members of other parliamentary groups. No other party wants to form a coalition with her.

The left-wing politician Bodo Ramelow knows the AfD: As prime minister and state politician in Thuringia, he followed the rise and radicalization of the local association there. He is now Vice President of the Bundestag, where the AfD is the largest opposition party.

Actually, as is tradition in Germany, the seating arrangement in parliaments in this country corresponds to the political left-right pattern. However, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, which is classified as right-wing extremist, wants to break with this tradition - and in doing so probably spread its own narrative of being a centrist party. The party got the seating arrangement changed in the state parliament's senior council.

Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz, the chairwoman of the Green Party in Saxony-Anhalt, has just read out Article 8 of the Basic Law, the one on freedom of assembly, at the demonstration in front of the state parliament building. "Today's constitutive meeting threatens to become a turning point," says the party leader. She will be a member of the state parliament from 11 a.m. »For the first time in a long time I have a stomach ache before a speech.«

Today it will be all about him: Tobias Rausch. The AfD parliamentary group has nominated the 35-year-old as the future state parliament president - his election is the most important agenda item for today's meeting.

Rausch cannot be elected with the AfD's votes alone, but the BSW parliamentary group has already announced that it will support an AfD candidate for the office of state parliament president. This means that Rausch could get the necessary majority straight away and become the first AfD politician to be elected to the head of a German parliament.

Loud whistles and boos echo across the cathedral square when AfD election winner Ulrich Siegmund appears in front of the state parliament. He is immediately surrounded by a crowd of journalists. “We’ll keep reading!” a speaker shouts into the microphone. “He has to hear this!” It’s about the reading from the Basic Law.

Siegmund calls on the demonstrators to talk; it is loud in front of the parliament building. “All state power comes from the people,” the demonstrators shout across the square.

There are warnings from industry about a possible AfD government in Saxony-Anhalt. "An upswing would not be expected with an AfD government because trust in good framework conditions suffers," said the managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Tanja Gönner, to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. The AfD is not a business party, said the former CDU politician.

The Magdeburg Solidarity Alliance distributed copies of the Basic Law on the Magdeburg Cathedral Square at the state parliament building. Together, around 300 demonstrators read out individual articles of the Basic Law in a chant in the morning sun. It's about human dignity and freedom and democracy. Their voices echo across the square.

After the clear victory in the election, the AfD has by far the largest parliamentary group in the new state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt. The party has 39 MPs, 37 of whom are men. Some attracted attention with ethnic and racist statements. Two MPs are being investigated because they are said to have been involved in the continuation of a banned right-wing extremist association.

Armin Willingmann appears to be in a good mood, but is expecting not to be elected Vice President of the State Parliament here in Magdeburg today. He is Minister for Science and Environment in the current state government. And in particular, the majority from AfD and BSW in the state parliament are of the opinion that a minister should not be vice president of the state parliament at the same time.

In Germany, parliaments, like universities, are usually housed either in modest post-war buildings or in historicist representative buildings. The Magdeburg state parliament belongs to the second category. The Baroque ensemble originally consists of several palaces from the early 18th century, which were connected after German reunification and converted into the seat of parliament.

The protest this morning here at the Magdeburg state parliament is weaker than expected. Almost 20 people, mostly women, gathered at a small gathering of Grandmas Against the Right. Directly behind the state parliament building, they promoted democracy, diversity and tolerance.

This much is certain: This day will go down in the history of Saxony-Anhalt - and the Federal Republic. Four weeks after the election in the federal state, the new state parliament is formed. A new state parliament president will be elected - and it can be assumed that the AfD politician Tobias Rausch will get the majority of votes straight away with the help of his own party and the BSW.

Then a politician from the AfD, which is also classified as right-wing extremist in Saxony-Anhalt, would be president of a parliament for the first time. The state parliament vice-presidents are also elected in the constituent session.