A month after winning the Saxony-Anhalt election, the AfD still lacks a path to its first state government. Tobias Rausch was elected parliament president with help from the BSW.
The Alternative for Germany convened the first sitting of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament on Tuesday without a clear route to forming a state government, a month after its September 6 election win.
The AfD fell three seats short of the absolute majority that lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund had sought. He said he wanted a first vote on the premiership only in December, to leave time to build support, and has floated new elections if he misses a majority.
The state constitution required the inaugural sitting within 30 days of the election. Tobias Rausch, a 35-year-old real estate entrepreneur and Siegmund ally, was elected president of the state parliament with support from the left-wing populist BSW, becoming the first AfD member to hold that office in a German state legislature.
In the secret ballot Rausch received 48 votes. Reuters said the AfD and BSW together had 44 votes, implying at least four other lawmakers backed him.
About 400 people gathered outside the parliament in Magdeburg, read the constitution and held a banner reading 'No cooperation with the extreme right,' Reuters reported. The protest was described as peaceful.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Protesters displayed a banner against cooperation with the extreme right
- Siegmund said he would seek a December vote to become premier