AfD candidate Tobias Rausch elected speaker of Saxony-Anhalt parliament
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Tobias Rausch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was chosen as speaker of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament with support from members of other parties, marking the first time a far-right party has held the post since World War II.
Tobias Rausch, 35, was elected speaker of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament on Tuesday after receiving votes from nine legislators outside his own party. The AfD had fallen three seats short of a majority in the recent state election, but Rausch secured enough cross-party support to win the position.
Rausch said, "The days of political firewalls should be a thing of the past," after the vote, indicating a willingness to work with parties that had previously excluded the AfD.
Regional Greens leader Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz described the outcome as a significant shift, stating, "A line has been crossed with the election of a far-right speaker of parliament, and it was 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."
The new speaker will chair debates, control access to the parliamentary building and represent the legislature at official events. Rausch, a trained estate agent and a decade-long member of the parliament, is known as a close associate of local AfD leader Ulrich Siegmund, who is campaigning to become state premier.
Protesters gathered outside the parliament in Magdeburg, displaying banners and voicing opposition to the AfD's rise. Reports indicated that votes for Rausch came from members of the hard-left BSW and possibly a few unidentified legislators, though the CDU party had publicly ruled out supporting the AfD candidate.