Sven Schulze elected as the new CDU parliamentary group leader in Saxony-Anhalt

Two days after the defeat in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU state parliamentary group elected Prime Minister Sven Schulze as its new chairman. The 47-year-old surprisingly ran for the election and prevailed in a vote against incumbent Guido Heuer with eight votes to seven.

A few hours before the election, the first rumors began circulating that Schulze could run for election as parliamentary group leader. It was only on Monday evening that the CDU regional association initiated a personnel reorganization.

Schulze had announced a new election for the CDU state executive committee for the end of November/beginning of December. Bundestag member Sepp Müller announced that he would run for the presidency. When asked by journalists whether he wanted to run for the presidency again, Schulze said: "It's not my plan at the moment."

The election of a prime minister as chairman of a state parliamentary group is unusual, but the current case in Magdeburg is not a first. The then Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Alexander Schweitzer, was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in Rhineland-Palatinate in May of this year before handing over the government office to Gordon Schnieder (CDU).

In the state elections on Sunday, the AfD, which the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as right-wing extremist, was by far the strongest force with 43.8 percent, ahead of the CDU with 17.2 percent of the vote. It was the CDU's worst result in a state election in Saxony-Anhalt since reunification. The CDU's share of the vote was almost halved, resulting in a loss of 25 seats.

The CDU is only represented by 15 members in the new state parliament. The SPD, the Left and the Greens each have eight seats; the BSW entered the state parliament in Magdeburg for the first time with five representatives. The AfD won 39 of the total 83 mandates. This means she is three seats short of an absolute majority.