In Saxony-Anhalt, Tobias Rausch was elected President of the State Parliament. He is the first AfD politician in Germany to hold this position. The further formation of a government could be difficult.

For the first time in Germany, an AfD politician, Tobias Rausch, is elected to the head of a state parliament. On October 6th, the 35-year-old received 48 of the 82 votes cast and was thus elected as the new President of the State Parliament.

In Saxony-Anhalt, Rausch is general secretary of the state party; he previously won 48.2 percent of the votes in the Schönebeck constituency in the state elections in September as a direct mandate. In the election for state parliament president, the BSW had previously expressed its support for the AfD candidate; apart from the BSW and AfD, four MPs from other parties voted for Rausch.

Individual CDU politicians may have voted for Rausch – the Left Party was outraged

The CDU parliamentary group had previously recommended that its 15 MPs abstain from the vote. The SPD, the Greens and the Left had announced in advance that they would oppose Rausch's election. Since then, there has been public speculation as to who voted for the AfD politician in the secret election.

After the election, Left co-parliamentary group leader Sören Pellmann spoke of a historic day. His colleague Heidi Reichinnek, meanwhile, made serious accusations against the CDU: “When it came to elevating a right-wing extremist to the highest office, nine out of 15 members of the CDU consciously decided to pave this path for him, by voting yes or abstaining.”

State election in Saxony-Anhalt: Don't be afraid of the fascists

In front of the Magdeburg state parliament itself there was oneProtest by around 350 participantsformed. Many people were worried about the election of the first AfD state parliament president in all of Germany. Individuals read paragraphs from the German Basic Law.

Rausch: A state parliament president in the middle of a nepotism affair

Inhis inaugural speechsaid Tobias Rausch, who himself grew up in Staßfurt in Saxony-Anhalt, that he would “not hold this office as president of a parliamentary group, but rather as president of the entire state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.” As President of the State Parliament, his responsibilities include chairing meetings, inviting state guests and issuing calls to order, for example in the event of disruptive or offensive interventions.

In addition, he also has the house rights of the Magdeburg state parliament, and accordingly he also has the right to police operations in the building. In addition, Rausch is responsible for the state parliament administration, and in his position as state parliament president he could also dismiss administration employees.

Election in Saxony-Anhalt: AfD presents reactionary 100-day program

At the beginning of the year, Rausch himself was at the center of nepotism allegations within the party. Specifically, it's about the fact that his three siblings are employed by the AfD member of the Bundestag Claudia Weiss, and his brother-in-law is also employedprofessional relationship with the AfD Bundestag office. One of his brothers is also said to have worked for Rausch's own real estate company. His current wife also earns loudlyMirror informationher money with the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, and she is said to have been part of an AfD delegation to New York in December 2025. The trip was reported within the party as“Honeymoon in the USA”designated.

Tobias Rausch himself claims in his defense that he was involved in the employment of his siblingsnot involvedshould have been. AfD top candidate Ulrich Siegmund from Saxony-Anhalt even emphasized that he would “even be good” to employ his own family members. AfD party leader Tino Chrupalla, on the other hand, is not so relaxed about it and emphasized that these employment relationships are not illegal, but they are“a taste”would have.

Forming a government in Saxony-Anhalt remains complicated

On November 18th, Tobias Rausch will open the first state parliament session as the new President of the Magdeburg State Parliament. After the AfD won the election in September, the election of a new prime minister is still pending. Until then, the current Prime Minister Sven Schulze will remain in his office.

State election in Saxony-Anhalt: How did the AfD win and how does it want to govern?

However, the election of a new prime minister of the state could prove to be difficult. Siegmund also announces that he would like to hold the office for his faction. But there has been a lack of support from the other parties so far - the BSW also announced that it would not vote for the current chairman of the state association of the AfD, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as “right-wing extremist”. If the three rounds of voting in December fail, new elections would have to be held.

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