Armin Willingmann, the SPD candidate, did not win the election for the Vice President of the Saxony-Anhalt State Parliament. During the secret ballot held on Tuesday, 33 deputies voted in his favor, while 48 voted against him, and one voice vote was deemed invalid.
It is notable that AfD politician Tobias Rausch received 48 votes during the election for the State Parliament President. This number exceeds the 44 seats jointly held by the AfD and the BSW.
Willingmann was a leading candidate for the SPD in the state election. A former Rector of Hochschule Harz, he previously served as the State Minister for Economy, Science, and Digitization from 2016 to 2021. Subsequently, he served as the Minister for Science, Energy, Climate Protection, and the Environment, and as the First Deputy Minister President.
The AfD secured the status of the strongest force in the state election on September 6th, garnering 43.8 percent of the vote, though they narrowly missed achieving an absolute majority in the parliament. Furthermore, according to the constitution protection agency, the AfD’s regional chapter in Saxony-Anhalt is classified as a “secured right-extremist endeavor.”
