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Tobias Rausch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been elected speaker of the parliament in Saxony-Anhalt, the first time since World War Two that a far-right party has secured the post, Reuters reported.
Rausch, 35, won Tuesday’s vote comfortably despite the AfD falling three seats short of a majority in last month’s state election. He received support from nine MPs from other parties.
“The days of political firewalls should be a thing of the past,” Rausch said after the vote, rejecting the post-war political consensus against working with the far right.
The newly elected representatives were meeting in parliament for the first time since the state election. Outside the building in Magdeburg, more than 300 protesters demonstrated, with banners including one that read: “Never again is now”.
Green Party regional leader Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz said the election of an AfD speaker meant “a line has been crossed” and marked a watershed moment. “We will not let ourselves be intimidated, and we will not sit by when rights are curtailed either here or for people in the state,” she said.
The AfD is regarded as pro-Russian and anti-immigrant. Its proposals include separating child refugees in schools, and the party has also been criticised for its stance towards the LGBT community. Saxony-Anhalt’s domestic intelligence agency classifies it as “right-wing extremist”, a description rejected by the party’s leaders.
Rausch, a trained estate agent, has served in the state parliament for 10 years and is considered a close ally of regional AfD leader Ulrich Siegmund. Siegmund is seeking to become state premier in December.
The speaker’s role is largely symbolic, but it includes chairing debates, controlling access to the parliament building and representing the legislature at official events. Before Tuesday’s inaugural session, the AfD successfully argued that its MPs should move from the right fringe of the chamber to the centre.
Five MPs from the far-left BSW party supported Rausch, while four other unidentified MPs also voted for him. The unexpected votes prompted speculation over whether members of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU had backed the AfD candidate, despite the chancellor ruling out cooperation with the party.
Fourteen CDU state MPs took part in the vote. Five abstained as planned, while an unconfirmed report said four may have voted for Rausch. All 15 CDU representatives had said ahead of the vote that they would not support the AfD candidate.
Siegmund’s bid to become state premier is uncertain. Like Rausch, he will need the support of 42 MPs in the 83-seat legislature. The BSW has ruled out joining a coalition with the AfD and said it would instead support a non-partisan candidate for premier and abstain in December’s vote.
