CDU General Secretary Franziska Hoppermann described the selection of the AfD politician Tobias Rausch as the Parliament President of Saxony-Anhalt as a “heavy blow,” demanding clarification regarding how the necessary majority of votes was secured. Hoppermann told FUNKE MEDIEN that the CDU in Germany believes that supporting an extremist party or a government led by such a party is incompatible with the party’s core values. She stated that it was a “politically and historically significant setback for our country” that the AfD, a right-wing extremist party, was first elected to the State Parliament Presidency in the history of the Federal Republic. For the Christian Democrats, this represents a severe impact on their commitment to liberal values. In light of the election results, where Rausch received more votes than the AfD and BSW had initially predicted, Hoppermann commented: “The election was secret. We cannot say where the additional votes came from.” She pointed out that a previous internal vote within the CDU parliamentary group resulted in votes of abstention or ‘no.’ She concluded that the detailed process and whether it is possible to clarify the results of a secret election will need to be determined among the respective state parliamentary groups.
Politics
