The AfD was successful in electing its candidate for Vice-President of the State Parliament in Saxony-Anhalt. With the vote held in secret on Tuesday, the AfD member Hans-Thomas Tillschneider received 44 votes, despite the AfD having only 39 representatives in the parliament. The results included 38 negative votes and no abstentions.
Previously, the BSW, which holds five seats in the parliament and had supported AfD politician Tobias Rausch during the election for the State Parliament President, had publicly announced that it would not support Tillschneider. In the first round of voting, Tillschneider was the sole candidate on the ballot after the other parliamentary groups withdrew their nominees, meaning he had to garner more ‘yes’ votes than ‘no’ votes.
In the election for the President of the State Parliament, Rausch had received 48 votes out of 82 ballots cast-a number exceeding the combined 44 seats held by the AfD and BSW.
Overall, the AfD emerged as the strongest force in the State Parliament election on September 6, securing 43.8 percent of the vote, although they narrowly missed achieving an absolute majority in the parliament. According to the domestic security service, the regional association of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt is considered a “confirmed right-extremist endeavor.”
