AfD Wins First German State Parliament Presidency in Saxony-Anhalt

The AfD's breakthrough began with September's election in Saxony-Anhalt. The party won nearly 44 per cent of the vote, easily outpolling the CDU, according to NDTV. But its victory did not give it a governing majority, ARD Tagesschau reported.

The immediate contest was for the presidency of the state parliament in Magdeburg. Tobias Rausch was the AfD's candidate. Euronews reported that the outcome depended on five BSW deputies, making the vote an early test of relations between the two parties before the AfD's bid to lead the state government in December.

On October 3, a separate debate about the AfD's parliamentary treatment was already under way. Hesse's Minister-President Boris Rhein argued that the CDU should not prevent AfD members from chairing Bundestag committees, according to DIE ZEIT. His position distinguished keeping political distance from excluding the party from parliamentary posts.

On October 4, Saxony-Anhalt's CDU parliamentary group leader Sven Schulze ruled out CDU support for Siegmund in the election for minister-president. DIE ZEIT reported that Schulze said his lawmakers had confirmed, even in writing, that none would switch to the AfD.

On October 5, BSW drew a distinction between the AfD's nominees for parliamentary office. While Rausch was expected to be elected president, the party said Hans-Thomas Tillschneider should not receive its votes for a vice-presidential post, DIE WELT reported.

On October 6, Rausch was elected. Deutsche Welle described him as the first far-right parliamentary speaker chosen by a German state parliament since the end of World War II. The BBC reported that the role was largely symbolic, but that opponents regarded the result as a watershed moment.

The vote also produced an unresolved question. Rausch received four more votes than the AfD and BSW held seats between them, according to DER SPIEGEL, which reported that Christian Democrats were searching for those responsible. The extra votes prompted suspicions of conservative defections, Le Monde reported, but their origin was not established in the coverage.

The response was immediate. SPD Bundestag lawmakers held a protest march against the result on October 6, according to Deutschlandfunk. By October 7, the SPD was demanding explanations from the CDU, DIE ZEIT reported.

The AfD now holds the presidency of Saxony-Anhalt's parliament, its first such post in Germany. That is not the same as taking control of the state government. The party still lacks a governing majority, as ARD Tagesschau reported before the parliamentary vote.

The result nevertheless shows that the AfD can assemble support beyond its own lawmakers for a parliamentary candidate, an interpretation set out by ARD Tagesschau. The four additional votes have intensified scrutiny of the CDU, but they do not establish who voted for Rausch or how those lawmakers would vote in a government leadership contest.

The next major test is the election of the state government's leader, expected in December, according to Le Monde. Schulze's pledge concerned that contest specifically, not Rausch's election as parliamentary president.

BSW's role and the source of Rausch's extra votes remain the immediate questions. Euronews framed the parliamentary vote as a test of AfD-BSW relations, while the SPD's demand for answers from the CDU, reported by DIE ZEIT, leaves pressure on the conservatives to explain what happened.