AfD state parliament president: test laboratory for ultra-right programming

The dominance of the extreme right-wing AfD in the new state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt was already clear in the hallway on Tuesday. During their strategic briefing, there was so much cheering, applauding and banging on the tables that it could be heard right outside the door.

In the plenary hall of the state parliament, the AfD parliamentary group is now a fat bloc in the middle. It has previously ensured that the left-right parliamentary seating arrangement since the Paulskirche in Frankfurt has been thrown out of the window, and it sees itself as the supposed middle with 39 MPs, only 2 of which are women.

The brown bloc consists of ethnic nationalists, Putin fans, nepotists and people who are under investigation for continuing banned neo-Nazi organizations. During the meeting, Ulrich Siegmund drank from a cup that said “left tears,” which was sold in the AfD shop at the same time. While the left-wing senior president Eva von Angern warned in her opening speech to continue to respect the state constitutional court in the future, there was applause from all factions except the AfD.

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The AfD's first appearance couldn't be clearer: From now on, disruption is on the agenda and Saxony-Anhalt is to be transformed into an illiberal enclave within Germany. The AfD wants to turn the state into a test laboratory for its ultra-right agenda, and on Tuesday it began setting up the framework for this.

With Tobias Rausch, the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt has elected the first state parliament president of a right-wing extremist party since 1945. He got 48 votes, significantly more than just the right-wing extremists and their stirrup holder BSW. It is almost certain that parts of the crumbling CDU also voted for him, meaning that the AfD is not only one step closer to destroying the CDU, but also to a possible government majority.

So you shouldn't fool yourself: the fact that Rausch's appearance was rather reserved and even seemed harmless in the face of a pale, page-read speech should not obscure the fact that the big end is still to come: a right-wing extremist state government. Rausch, who supports every ethnic volte in his party and is heavily involved in nepotism, seems as if he has eaten chalk - but mimicry has always been a strength of fascism.

This is a black day, especially for minorities in the country, for people who do not fit into the AfD's worldview, and for the vibrant civil society, which now has to be even more resistant. It is all the more important that hundreds of people protested in front of the state parliament. Because giving up without a fight should not be an option.