Only a few people gathered on Tuesday morning at the “Center for Political Beauty” demonstration bus in front of the state parliament in Magdeburg. On the other side of the security fence, surrounded by journalists and streamers close to the party: AfD parliamentary group leader Ulrich Siegmund. He calls out to the crowd that he wants to have a conversation. When a participant accuses him of having his suits cleaned in a workshop for people with disabilities and taking advantage of their poor pay, Siegmund replies that he has spoken to the people and that they see it differently. His door is always open: "There's coffee and a few cookies and we can do it together."
Later he warns the demo that prejudices, hatred and emotions must be taken back. Of all people, Siegmund, who often gave the impression during the election campaign that he was relying more on emotions than on facts.
The focus is on someone else on this day: Tobias Rausch from Staßfurt is supposed to win the first victory away from the ballot box for the AfD, which the country's Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as definitely right-wing extremist.
Schulze announced that the CDU parliamentary group would abstain
It was previously considered certain that Rausch would be elected. The AfD mustered 39 votes on its own; the five MPs from the BSW, which has been called the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason since October 1, had promised their support.
Involuntary help also came from the CDU: parliamentary group leader Sven Schulze, still state chairman and prime minister, had announced that his group would abstain. Because the state parliament's rules of procedure do not count abstentions, this lowered the hurdle for Rausch.
With 83 seats in the state parliament and the actual election with 82 representatives present, it was crucial that Rausch received the majority of the valid votes cast. There were 48 votes for him - with five abstentions.
Did CDU politicians vote for Rausch?
That's four more votes than the "community of convenience" of AfD and BSW brings to the table. The SPD, the Greens and the Left Party had declared several times that they would not vote for Rausch. If four CDU MPs voted for him, Schulze would not have the group under control. And Ulrich Siegmund's election as Prime Minister in December would have become much more likely.
Either way: After the defeat on election day and the shambles that parts of his party held less than 30 minutes after the first prediction about their top candidate, Schulze lacks support. The group signaled this to him today.
And just a few hours after Rausch was elected, the parliamentary group met again. Actually, to discuss the election of the vice presidents, but the result of Rausch's election was also the focus here. Still no result for Schulze, but the next round of voting should hold further surprises.
Second weakest result since 1990
Almost 58 percent of MPs voted for Rausch. Only Hardy Peter Güssau (CDU), who did not remain in office for a year and who resigned in connection with an election fraud scandal in his constituency, received less since the fall of the Wall. Even his predecessor, Gunnar Schellenberger (CDU), who also had little ability to gain a majority in the state parliament, achieved 66 percent.
Intoxicated, cream-colored suit, visibly nervous, but still tried to take over the house for himself. He wants to be there for the people, but also for all factions. "You sometimes have the feeling that society and parts of the representatives have forgotten that you can have different political opinions and still treat each other normally and fairly," he said.
In addition to media representatives from all over the world, AfD-affiliated streamers also reported from the state parliament as “media representatives” for the first time during the election. Rausch decides who is allowed to enter the house in the future and who is not: the house rules are now in his hands.
As chair of the meeting, he would have to sanction the very MPs who have toughened the tone in recent years. Many of them came from the AfD. Rausch himself was always among them. For example, Rausch received a call to order in 2024 when he scolded other members of the state parliament. The other factions fear that the harsh tone will have no consequences.
As head of the authority, Rausch also has control over the company's employees and can initiate transfers. Employees close to the party could be hired. Rausch has come under fire in the past over allegations of “nepotism.” At times he employed several players from his club in his parliamentary office.
Vice election will be another big bang
The election of the vice-presidents of the state parliament also became a power game for the AfD: First, the rules of procedure were adjusted so that the deputies are no longer proposed by the parliamentary groups based on the election results, as was decided in April, but can be elected in an open race from among all MPs. It was therefore clear: As announced, the AfD would nominate the hardliner and author of the AfD election program, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, as vice president. The AfD man was the only candidate for the office.
Before the election, the BSW announced that it would not elect Tillschneider. The result: The AfD man, who belonged to the wing that was dissolved in 2020, was elected with 44 votes, with 38 votes against and no abstentions. This means that if things go badly for Schulze from the CDU, there will be another dissenter and therefore five in his own ranks. There were murmurs in the hallways of the state parliament after the session.
Schulze swears: The group voted as one
Schulze said in the MDR interview that the parliamentary group voted unanimously against the candidate. However, the parliamentary group had apparently already refused to support its own Prime Minister - at the time Reiner Haseloff - in the first round of voting in 2021. In the end, the group also denied this.
The BSW took a stand after the election: They kept their word and elected Rausch. "At the same time, we have drawn a clear line: electing Hans-Thomas Tillschneider as Vice-President of the State Parliament is out of the question for us. In the past, Mr. Tillschneider has represented positions that clearly contradict our political convictions, particularly when it comes to issues of war and peace and the arms industry," said John Lucas Dittrich, Parliamentary Managing Director of the BSW.
While in the end the CDU got its candidate Carsten Borchert into the presidency with 64 votes to 17, the election was a debacle for the SPD: its former top candidate and science minister in the Haseloff/Schulze cabinet, Armin Willingmann, failed with 33 yes to 48 no votes. Here too, the CDU could have tipped the scales in the end. A humiliation for the SPD at the end of the meeting.
