Germany’s AfD Wins First State Parliament Presidency As It Eyes Government

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany won its first state parliament presidency Tuesday, securing support beyond its own lawmakers as it pushes to take control of a regional government.

Tobias Rausch was elected to lead Saxony-Anhalt’s legislature with 48 votes.

His party holds 39 seats, making outside backing decisive in a result that puts Germany’s political barrier against cooperation with the AfD under renewed pressure.

The parliamentary breakthrough follows the party’s roughly 44% result in the September 6 state election.

It gives the AfD a prominent institutional position while its candidate for state premier, Ulrich Siegmund, seeks enough votes to govern.

Four Unidentified Backers

Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht, the party founded by the former Left party leader, had committed its five lawmakers to supporting Rausch.

Four additional votes came from unidentified members of other parliamentary groups.

The secret ballot leaves their identities unknown.

The Christian Democrats had announced plans to abstain, while the Social Democrats, Greens and Left party had said they would oppose the nomination.

The outcome does not establish which party supplied the additional support. It does, however, show that the AfD could attract votes beyond its own ranks and the BSW’s declared backing.

Rausch, a 35-year-old real estate manager, used his first address to challenge the policy of isolating his party, calling for “the era of political firewalls” to become a “thing of the past.”

December Bid for Government

Siegmund plans to seek election as state premier in December, although the AfD remains three seats below an outright parliamentary majority.

If elected, he would become the party’s first German state premier, with authority over education, policing and parts of migration policy.

The BSW has rejected a formal coalition with the AfD. The parties are nevertheless discussing policies that could support a less formal arrangement.

Siegmund has said he expects backing from lawmakers in other groups.

Tuesday’s result offers encouragement, but does not guarantee that the same support will carry over to a government vote.

“Every additional vote would also be a good sign for the formation of an AfD-led government in December,” he told Deutschlandfunk before the ballot.

A Powerful Parliamentary Platform

Rausch will oversee debates, recognize speakers and enforce parliamentary rules.

He also becomes Saxony-Anhalt’s highest-ranking representative for ceremonial purposes.

He will retain his position as the AfD’s state general secretary, departing from the previous practice of treating the parliamentary presidency as a nonpartisan office.

His appointment comes amid scrutiny of arrangements involving AfD officials employing one another’s relatives with public money.

Three of Rausch’s siblings worked in an AfD federal lawmaker’s office; he has denied involvement in that arrangement.