Saxony-Anhalt’s state parliament is to meet Tuesday for the first time since the AfD won its landslide victory there last month. Here’s what is to be decided.
Saxony-Anhalt’s newly elected parliament is to meet in Magdeburg on Tuesday for the first time since the state election saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) win a landslide victory that sent shockwaves through Germany.
The primary order of business will be to elect a president of the parliament.
The AfD has nominated 35-year-old Tobias Rausch for the role. If his election is successful, Saxony-Anhalt will be the first German state to see an AfD member elected to head a state parliament.
The AfD’s state chapter here is classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as right-wing extremist.
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A new seating arrangement
Of the parliament’s 83 seats, 39 are held by the AfD. Now the largest group by far, the AfD will no longer sit on the far-right side of the parliament hall in Saxony-Anhalt but in the centre.
However, the AfD does not quite have a majority to elect a president entirely on its own.
The AfD’s 39 seats are equal to those held by the CDU (15), the SPD (8), the Left (8) and the Greens (8) combined. The remaining five seats belong to the BSW.
Because the other parties appear united in their opposition to the AfD, the BSW is in a position to play a decisive role in parliamentary votes.
While BSW leadership had ruled out joining the AfD directly in a coalition government, they had signalled willingness not to block the AfD from forming a minority government.
BSW leaders have suggested they that they will decide on issues on a case by case basis. “We will base our decisions on substance,” said BSW’s Federal Chair Amira Mohamed Ali.
“If we have common ground with the AfD because it makes sense for the people, then we will do so,” said BSW Secretary-General Oliver Ruhnert.
How does the vote work on Tuesday?
The state parliament session is to begin Tuesday at 11 am. It is to be opened by Eva von Angern of the Left party, who is the longest standing member of parliament.
The president of parliament is elected by simple majority — the candidate that receives the majority of the valid votes cast is elected. The ballot is secret, and the vote is counted and the result announced immediately afterwards.
As the party with the most seats in parliament, the AfD gets to put forward its candidate, Tobias Rausch, for president first. According to media reports, BSW members have already assured the AfD that they will back Rausch for president, assuring his election.
But if for any reason Rausch fails to win a majority of votes in the first ballot, then other parliamentary groups would have a chance to nominate different candidates for the second ballot.
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AfD candidate for president of parliament in Saxony-Anhalt, Tobias Rausch (L), sits beside top candidate Ulrich Siegmund on January 28, 2026 in Magdeburg. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
What powers does the state parliament president have?
The President of a State Parliament (Landtagspräsident or Landtagspräsidentin) is the highest ranking member of parliament, and second-highest state official after the Minister-President, who heads the government.
The position is formally non-partisan and required to be exercised neutrally, but it comes with significant administrative, procedural and legal authority over the functioning of parliament.
The president leads sessions of parliament as well as the parliamentary advisory committee (also called the council of elders, or Ältestenrats).
Election for minister-president to come
The president of the parliament also swears in the state’s minister-president and administers their oath of office.
The AfD’s top candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, is set to stand for election as minister-president here. Siegmund has said that he will aim for the election to be held in the parliament’s December meeting.
Who is Tobias Rausch?
Tobias Rausch was born in 1990 in Mellrichstadt, Bavaria, and grew up in Saxony-Anhalt.
He initially trained as a car mechanic and real estate agent. He is deeply involved in regional football, as the chairman of two clubs, SV 09 Staßfurt and VfB Glöthe, and even as an active player for the latter.
Rausch joined the AfD in 2013 and has been a member of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt since 2016. Since 2021, he has been the parliamentary secretary of the parliamentary group.
In his parliamentary work so far, Rausch has managed to develop strong political connections, both within his own party and beyond, including maintaining a good working relationship with the outgoing state parliament president, Christian Democrat Gunnar Schellenberger.
Rausch was at the centre of a nepotism scandal earlier this year. Three of his siblings and a brother-in-law were revealed to be employed by AfD members of the Bundestag. His wife also works for the AfD parliamentary group. However, members of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt have continued to back him.
While Rausch has long applauded radical words spoken by his colleagues in parliament, he has maintained a more subdued presence himself.
In a report by Der Spiegel last week he was quoted as saying, “I am not a hardliner. I’m pragmatic. I try to find compromises.”
His opponents, however, are not convinced. Leader of the Left party group Eva von Angern told Spiegel, “History teaches us that a member of a right-wing extremist party should never again hold such an office.”
She added that Rausch stands for “nepotism and self-service…in the past, he was only concerned with lining his own pockets. Such behaviour disqualifies him from representing the state of Saxony-Anhalt in this office.”
READ ALSO: German state ministers scrap unanimity rule amid AfD concerns
Surrounded by protests
Demonstrations against the far-right are planned in Magdeburg on Tuesday as the parliament meets and moves forward with the election of its next president.
The Bündnis Solidarisches Magdeburg is planning a day of action from 8 am to 2 pm. One action will see the first 20 articles of the Basic Law read out in chorus at the state parliament starting at 9 am.
With reporting by DPA.