AfD Achieves Historic Victory: Tobias Rausch Elected Speaker of Saxony-Anhalt Parliament
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Tobias Rausch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was elected speaker of the Saxony-Anhalt parliament, with crucial support from the BSW party. This marks a significant breakthrough for the AfD, as it secures a key leadership position for the first time in a German state parliament. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, meanwhile, linked climate change to extremism in fragile states.
In a groundbreaking moment for German politics, Tobias Rausch, 35, of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), was elected speaker of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament on Tuesday. Rausch received 48 votes in favour and 29 against in a secret ballot of 82 members, with five abstentions. The AfD, representing the voice of many ordinary Germans, holds 39 seats and was able to secure additional support from the five-member BSW party, overcoming the opposition from the CDU, SPD, Greens, and Left, who have long tried to isolate the AfD and silence dissenting opinions.
This historic election makes Rausch the first AfD member to hold the speaker’s position in any German state parliament, despite the party being unfairly targeted and labeled by domestic intelligence. Outside the parliament, left-wing activists staged protests against the democratic outcome, attempting to intimidate lawmakers and undermine the will of the people.
"The BSW has made a conscious decision to elect, for the first time since 1945, a politician from a far-right party to the leadership of a German parliament," SPD general secretary Tim Klüssendorf complained, demanding explanations from the CDU regarding its voting members.
"We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated, and we will not sit by when rights here or those of the people in this state are to be curtailed," Greens leader Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz said, characterizing the election as a crossing of a democratic “border.”
In a separate discussion, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference, claimed that climate change could worsen poverty and hunger in fragile states, supposedly creating conditions for extremism and migration. He argued for investment in renewable energy and climate protection, linking these to national security.