New state parliament | In Magdeburg the extremists are now in the middle

With Tobias Rausch, an AfD politician is to be elected President of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt for the first time Photo: dpa/Heiko Rebsch The “extremism of the middle” has been debated in Germany since the mid-1990s. The conflict researcher Wilhelm Heitmeyer used the term to describe that right-wing extremist, xenophobic and anti-democratic attitudes have deep roots in civil society. In the new state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, which meets for the first time this Tuesday, exactly 30 days after the election on September 6th, this insight could be seen illustrated by the seating arrangement. The AfD, which is classified as firmly right-wing extremist in the state, is not sitting on the right-wing edge as before, but is moving to the middle of the plenary hall.

The trigger for the change, of course, is not the desire to reflect the findings of sociologists like Heitmeyer. On the contrary, the AfD wants to pursue symbolic politics and present itself in parliament as a middle-class party. It is one of the measures with which the party, which was the clear election winner with 43.8 percent, wants to demonstrate its new power. It also symbolically pushes the other parties to the margins. On the right side of the plenary hall sit the CDU and on the far outside the Greens. On the left are the BSW, the SPD and, at the very edge, the Left.

The closeness between AfD and BSW is also symbolic. After all, it is thanks to the Wagenknecht party that the former can realize their dreams of power. The AfD has 39 of the 83 MPs, but has missed an absolute majority. The BSW, which just got over the five percent hurdle, is now represented by five MPs and not only supports the right-wing extremists on the issue of seating arrangements, but also wants to help them achieve a historic success: the election of the first president of a Federal German parliament from their ranks.

The AfD will propose 35-year-old MP Tobias Rausch as the strongest faction for the office. The BSW has announced that it wants to elect him, which would ensure the required simple majority. BSW parliamentary group leader Thomas Schulze said on Monday: "As a first sign that we respect parliamentary customs, we will elect the AfD candidate for state parliament president tomorrow." Co-federal leader Fabio di Masi also referred to such "customs," which would only deviate from if the AfD were to nominate "an extremist."

"As a first sign that we respect parliamentary customs, we will elect the AfD candidate for state parliament president tomorrow."

You don't see someone like that when you're drunk. The real estate agent, of course, played a central role in the nepotism affair that rocked the party at the beginning of the election campaign. Rausch employed four footballers from his hometown club in mini-jobs; three of his siblings were employed by an AfD member of the Bundestag, and his wife works for the state parliamentary group. Such cross-employment by family members is now no longer permitted in Saxony-Anhalt.

A Rausch family member was already a member of the presidium of the Magdeburg state parliament. His father Daniel Rausch was elected vice president in April 2016 after the party's first entry into the state parliament. Just a few weeks later, however, he resigned for personal reasons after appearing clearly overwhelmed in a meeting. A party friend took over the office. In the electoral period from 2021, several AfD politicians failed in their candidacies for the presidency.

If Rausch were chosen, it would have a new quality. With him, a representative of a right-wing extremist party would be the highest representative of the legislature. It would be the first in Germany since Nazi Party politician Hermann Göring, who was President of the Reichstag from 1932 to 1945. In the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, the president heads the administration; So he can hire or fire employees. According to the rules of procedure, he “preserves the dignity and rights of the state parliament, promotes its work, conducts the negotiations fairly and impartially and maintains order in the house”. In meetings he can issue calls to order. He also has “domestic rights and police authority in all buildings.” As critics note, all of these tasks have a high potential for abuse.

That's not enough for the AfD. She is also aiming to appoint one of the vice-presidents of the state parliament. In the past, the strongest faction in the Magdeburg parliament was able to appoint one of the vice-presidents in addition to the president. This changed with a parliamentary reform passed in June. The AfD would therefore first have to get a majority to change the rules of procedure in order to be able to nominate a deputy for Rausch. In addition, CDU MP Carsten Borchert and the previous SPD science minister Armin Willingmann want to run for vice president.

The fact that the AfD cannot enforce all of its claims to power despite its new strength was shown in the debate about the strength of the state parliament committees. In the preliminary discussions, the AfD had pushed for the committees to have twelve members. That would have meant that she would have sent six representatives and no resolutions could have been passed against her vote. Several factions threatened to go to the Constitutional Court because they did not see the composition of the state parliament as being adequately reflected. The AfD gave in; The committees now have eleven members, as recommended by the parliamentary administration.

In the AfD, the election of the president and the question of seating arrangements and other regulations in the state parliament are seen as preliminary skirmishes. The party aims to form the government and the prime minister. Discussions with the BSW are currently underway. Of course, this ruled out a formal coalition as well as yes votes for an AfD head of government; it insists on a non-party head of government. If the Wagenknecht party abstained, there would be a stalemate between the 39 MPs from the AfD on the one hand and the CDU, SPD, Greens and Left on the other. This means that at least one other member of parliament would have to abstain in the third round of voting in order for AfD frontman Ulrich Siegmund to achieve the simple majority required. He has announced that he wants to stand for election in December; the majority is secured. It is still unclear whether he is just bluffing or whether an agreement was reached in discussions with individual CDU MPs, which the AfD says there are.

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