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.
AfD MP Hans-Thomas Tillschneider received 44 yes votes in the first round of voting and 38 MPs voted no. Tillschneider accepted the election and is now Vice President of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt. He received congratulations exclusively from his own party.
The AfD parliamentary group consists of 39 members. The five BSW MPs had announced in advance that they would vote against Tillschneider. As with the election of Tobias Rausch, the question arises as to which MPs voted for the AfD candidate.
SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf has called on the CDU to clarify the voting behavior of MPs. "The election of an AfD politician as president of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt is fatal for the people in Saxony-Anhalt and far beyond," Klüssendorf told the Rheinische Post. "The BSW made a conscious decision to elect a politician from a right-wing extremist party to the head of a German parliament for the first time since 1945."
Beyond the AfD and BSW, four other MPs voted for AfD MP Tobias Rausch. "My clear expectation of the CDU is that they immediately clarify who among their ranks thought this fatal decision was the right one," said Klüssendorf. Anyone who wants to protect democracy has a historical responsibility to keep right-wing extremist forces out of political power at every point and every second.
The first round of voting is underway. The MPs are called again individually and go into the voting booth, where they cast their votes in a secret ballot.
Tobias Rausch from the right-wing extremist AfD in Saxony-Anhalt was elected parliamentary speaker with 48 votes - but the AfD and BSW together only have 44. According to ZEIT, the result is based on a deal with representatives of the CDU.
The AfD parliamentary group nominates the right-wing politician Hans-Thomas Tillschneider for the office of vice president. The CDU and SPD factions are withdrawing their proposals for the first round of voting. This means that only Tillschneider is on the ballot in the first round.
As with the election of the President of Parliament, abstentions count as votes not cast. A candidate is elected with a simple majority - i.e. if he or she receives more yes votes than no votes.
If several candidates are on the ballot at the same time, the MPs have to decide: they can either vote for one of the candidates or vote no or abstain. In this case, the person who receives the majority of valid votes is elected. The fact that the CDU and SPD withdrew their candidates for the first round of voting theoretically enables them to vote no in Tillschneider's election.
The session in Parliament continues. The majority of the state parliament votes to elect three vice presidents.
The AfD's top candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, is hoping that today's election of parliamentary speaker will also provide "tailwind" for his election as prime minister. He wants to face this in the state parliament in just over two months - and in addition to the AfD votes, he needs those from at least one other faction.
Rausch's election was "historic," said Siegmund about the inaugural session of the state parliament: "The so-called firewall finally fell today in the Magdeburg state parliament."
AfD chairmen Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla congratulated Tobias Rausch on his election as state parliament president in Saxony-Anhalt. The election was a “historic step,” they said, according to a statement from the party. Since Rausch received a total of 48 votes, significantly more than the 39 AfD MPs, they also turned to other parliamentary groups: “We would like to thank the (...) AfD parliamentary group as well as the representatives of the BSW and the CDU for this clear vote.”
The fact that members of other parliamentary groups also voted for Rausch was a sign of trust. It also shows “that people in Magdeburg are prepared to accept the will of the voters and return to constructive, factual cooperation in parliament. This means that a certain degree of political normality is returning to Saxony-Anhalt. The years of exclusion of the AfD have come to an end with today's election.
After the Greens in the Bundestag, the left-wing faction there also warned of dangers to democracy. In view of the election of Tobias Rausch, co-party leader Sören Pellmann spoke of a “black day for our democracy”. The events in Magdeburg are “more than just a bursting of the dam” – the day will go down in history.
Pellmann's co-party leader Heidi Reichinnek made similar comments. Rausch is the first right-wing extremist to be president of a German parliament since Hermann Göring. Reichinnek criticized the BSW and CDU factions for their behavior in electing Rausch. The BSW has made itself the AfD's stirrup supporter. "When it came to elevating a right-wing extremist to the highest office, nine out of 15 members of the CDU/CSU consciously decided to pave this path for him, by voting yes or abstaining."
It is unclear which votes exactly belonged to Rausch. The vote in the Magdeburg state parliament was secret.
The fact that a representative of a party "that wants to turn the culture of remembrance in Germany by 180 degrees" should hold the office of President of Parliament is "an absolute disgrace in the face of the victims of National Socialism," Reichinnek told journalists in Berlin. “This is the next big step in the seizure of power by a party that is the spiritual heir to those who led this country into its darkest time.”
The cathedral square in front of the state parliament is slowly emptying. Sandy Gärtner, a freelance artist by profession, organized the demo today. It was her idea to read out the Basic Law together in a choir, "to smash the basis of our coexistence in people's ears." About 500 people took part. “That was a great sign,” she says.
After the state election, Gärtner felt powerless, she says. “But you have to do something.” Two and a half weeks ago, she set about organizing her very first demo. "Actually, the consequence of the Basic Law should be that you don't work with parties that don't have both feet on the Basic Law," she says.
After the election of Tobias Rausch as President of the State Parliament, she was in shock. "I was in tears, but now I'm already thinking about what we'll do in December."
Britta Haßelmann, co-leader of the Green Party in the Bundestag, described the election of Tobias Rausch as state parliament president in Saxony-Anhalt as a fatal event. She also warned of a danger to democracy in Germany.
At the same time, Haßelmann criticized the BSW parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt for its cooperation with the AfD. The BSW acts as a majority procurer for the AfD, which is classified as right-wing extremist. “The BSW has thus said goodbye to the democratic spectrum,” said Haßelmann.
She is even more concerned about the voting behavior of CDU representatives. They should have abstained as a whole from the election of the President of Parliament. “There were no 15 abstentions,” said Haßelmann. »Obviously there were also CDU votes. That's irresponsible." With a view to the pending election of a prime minister in Saxony-Anhalt, the question arises as to how reliable the CDU is.
Rausch was elected President of the State Parliament at midday with 48 yes votes. The AfD has 39 members in parliament, the BSW has five. The AfD politician received at least four votes from one or more other factions.
Carola Veit is President of the Hamburg Citizens' Council. She considers it questionable that the AfD is now appointing a parliamentary speaker in Saxony-Anhalt, Tobias Rausch, for the first time. In an interview with ZEIT, she announced that events in Saxony-Anhalt would be carefully monitored - including by the other 15 parliamentary speakers.
“Respect for the office remains necessary,” she emphasizes. But respect does not mean leniency. "Where decisions are made in a partisan, undemocratic manner or against the rules of the house, they must be objected to - objectively, clearly and, if necessary, with all parliamentary means and also from the circle of the state parliament presidents."
Veit emphasizes that the election of Rausch is more than just a personnel decision because the AfD has already announced that it wants to "carry out the office differently." "The concern that an AfD presidency could lead to a further brutalization of debates, to party-political meeting management or to political instrumentalization of the house does not seem unjustified to me," Veit tells ZEIT. This also applies to the question of which guests are invited, which exhibitions are shown or which symbols are visible in parliament.
She also criticizes the fact that Rausch announced that he would remain the parliamentary manager of his party at the same time as an “unusual decision.” She questions whether the necessary neutrality can be guaranteed in this way. “This could be at risk if you are also involved in day-to-day party politics,” fears SPD politician Veit.
After the intoxicating speech, the meeting was adjourned until 3 p.m. The Council of Elders meets to discuss the rules of procedure. The AfD wants to bring about a change so that it can have a vice president in addition to the state parliament president. According to the agenda, the election of the vice presidents will continue after the break.
During his time in the opposition, he experienced how controversial parliamentary work can be, says Tobias Rausch in his inaugural speech. He wants to take this experience with him into his new office and protect the rights of Parliament.
For the period now beginning in the state parliament, he would like to see a parliament "in which there are passionate arguments, in which clearer words are spoken, in which the government and opposition wrestle with each other." At the same time, it should never be forgotten that all representatives have received a mandate from the citizens.
“You sometimes have the feeling that society and parts of its representatives have forgotten that you can have different political opinions and still treat each other normally and fairly,” says Rausch. He will therefore lead the office of President of the State Parliament with fairness, calm and the necessary consistency. »My door will be open. I will listen. I will take different opinions seriously. And I will try to make decisions transparently and comprehensibly.«
At the end of his speech there was applause from the AfD and BSW factions.
