Far-Right Speakership Breakthrough

AfD Lawmaker Elected Saxony-Anhalt Parliament Speaker With Far-Left BSW Support

Far-right lawmaker Tobias Rausch has been elected to the presidency of Saxony-Anhalt’s state parliament, becoming the first time an Alternative for Germany politician will lead a German state parliament. He secured 48 votes, with 29 lawmakers voting against him and five abstaining. The far-left Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason, or BSW, voted in favour of Rausching, citing the convention that the largest parliamentary faction in the country wins the presidency. Critics argue that this move normalizes the AfD, which domestic intelligence classifies as confirmed extremist.

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