Alexander Gauland has cancer – the AfD politician has already undergone surgery three times

The AfD politician Alexander Gauland is suffering from cancer. The 85-year-old member of the Bundestag is undergoing chemotherapy and has therefore only been able to take part in parliamentary sessions to a limited extent since the beginning of 2025. This emerges from a statement by his office manager Marco Wall to “Tag24”.

“Since the beginning of last year, Dr. Gauland has only been able to participate to a limited extent in the meetings of the German Bundestag due to cancer,” Wall told the news portal when asked.

According to his office, Gauland has now undergone three operations. The illness has a significant impact on his everyday life and his parliamentary work. Whether he can take part in plenary and committee meetings currently depends on how well the chemotherapy goes. Gauland hopes to be able to take part in the meetings more often in the future. He is currently doing his parliamentary work from home.

According to the news portal, Gauland's health restrictions are also reflected in his voting behavior. Accordingly, a total of 85 roll-call votes have taken place in the Bundestag since the beginning of the 21st electoral term. The AfD politician took part in 47 of them. However, no votes were recorded in 38 votes. This corresponds to a participation rate of around 55 percent.

The development since the parliamentary summer break is particularly striking: between September 24th and October 15th, Gauland did not cast his vote in any of the 17 roll-call votes.

Gauland won the direct mandate in Chemnitz constituency 161 in the federal election on February 23, 2025. He won with 32.2 percent of the initial votes. His office left it open whether his illness was known before the election. It also did not give a more precise time of diagnosis.

The AfD co-founder is currently the oldest member of the Bundestag. Despite his health restrictions, he recently appeared in public again. On October 26th he took part in an event in the Stollberg community garden. According to his office, it was his first appointment open to the public.