Die Zeit1 hour agoPolitics1 min readGermany

Saxony-Anhalt: Banaszak warns of “creeping normalization” of the AfD

Quick Look

Felix Banaszak, federal chairman of the Green Party, criticizes the election of Tobias Rausch from the AfD as the first state parliament president since 1945 as a sign of the normalization of right-wing extremism.
He points out that some CDU MPs voted against their parliamentary group leader's recommendation to abstain and sees this as a bad sign for the upcoming election of the Prime Minister.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Since 1945, no right-wing extremist party in Germany has reached the top of a state parliament. The election of Tobias Rausch from the AfD as President of the State Parliament marks a historic break that is seen by political observers as a sign of right-wing normalization.

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The federal chairman of the Green Party, Felix Banaszak, sees the election of Tobias Rausch as the AfD's first state parliament president as a sign of the normalization of right-wing extremism. The fact that a member of a right-wing extremist party has been elected to the head of a German parliament for the first time since 1945 should not be trivialized, Banaszak told the Editorial Network Germany (RND).

“It is a gradual normalization of the right-wing extremist land grab that we are experiencing here again - and not just, as announced, by the BSW MPs,” Banaszak continued. Some of the 15 CDU MPs apparently resisted the recommendation of the incumbent Prime Minister and parliamentary group leader Sven Schulze to abstain. “This is not a good sign for the election of the Prime Minister.”

In the secret vote for state parliament president, Rausch received 48 out of 82 votes - four more than the AfD and BSW have together. 29 MPs voted against him and there were 5 abstentions.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

The CDU will not be able to implement its recommendation to abstain in the upcoming election of the Prime Minister.
Likely · Within days
The AfD will try to use the presidency to further institutionalize its party in the political system.
Possible · Within weeks

Open Questions

How will the election of the Prime Minister in Saxony-Anhalt turn out?
Will the CDU be able to restore its group discipline in future elections?
What concrete steps is the AfD planning now that it has taken office as president?