The AfD won 39 of 83 seats in Saxony-Anhalt’s September election, short of a majority, leaving the state’s governing balance unsettled. Parliament elected Tobias Rausch as speaker on October 6 with 48 votes; Rausch claimed CDU lawmakers helped elect him, Schulze denied it, and Merz said the secret ballot left voters unidentified. The AfD and BSW proposed a resolution calling for an end to Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions, with a vote scheduled for October 14.
Summary written by our automated pipeline from the outlets' reporting. How it works
Grouped by where each speaker is from. Quotation marks are the speaker's own words; other lines are our summaries.
Differ among themselves on: Whether CDU lawmakers voted for Rausch · Where accounts differ
“The days of political firewalls should be a thing of the past”
Quoted in BBC News · also 1 other outlet
Wagenknecht said BSW had ended the political firewall and that the largest parliamentary group should hold the chamber presidency.
Our summary of El País, via DPA
“BSW terminó con la idiotez del cortafuegos [el equivalente en Alemania a cordón sanitario], el mayor grupo del parlamento debe ocupar, por supuesto, la presidencia de la Cámara”
Machine translation: “BSW put an end to the idiocy of the firewall [the equivalent in Germany of a cordon sanitaire]; the largest group in parliament should, of course, hold the presidency of the…”
Miersch said this was not a normal day.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
Siegmund said he would run in the December election for state premier.
Our summary of The Hankyoreh
Merz described Rausch’s election as a historic break.
Our summary of Deutsche Welle
Merz characterized the election results for the AfD and BSW in Saxony-Anhalt as a historic turning point.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
“Not only the BSW, but also the CDU must urgently explain how this could have happened.”
Quoted in Deutsche Welle · also 1 other outlet
Pistorius described the day as one of anger and disappointment that democrats appeared not to have learned from history and were allowing it to repeat itself.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
“Das ist der Tag von Wut, das ist der Tag von Enttäuschung darüber, dass Demokratinnen und Demokraten offenbar nichts gelernt haben aus der Geschichte und die Geschichte sich…”
Machine translation: “This is a day of anger, a day of disappointment that Democrats apparently have learned nothing from history and are letting history repeat itself again”
Points where outlets or parties give conflicting facts or readings. Each side is summarised by our pipeline; its sources are listed under it.
Rausch claimed that CDU lawmakers helped elect him.
Tobias Rausch, AfD politician · our summary of Der Spiegel
CDU faction leader Sven Schulze denied that votes for Rausch came from his party.
Sven Schulze, CDU politician · our summary of Der Spiegel
Rausch said political firewalls should be a thing of the past, and BSW leader Wagenknecht said her party had ended the firewall.
“The days of political firewalls should be a thing of the past”
Sarah Wagenknecht, BSW leader · our summary of El País, via DPA
“BSW terminó con la idiotez del cortafuegos [el equivalente en Alemania a cordón sanitario], el mayor grupo del parlamento debe ocupar, por supuesto, la presidencia de la Cámara”
Machine translation: “BSW put an end to the idiocy of the firewall [the equivalent in Germany of a cordon sanitaire]; the largest group in parliament should, of course, hold the presidency of the…”
SPD leader Klingbeil called electing a far-right politician to the office a breaking of a taboo.
Lars Klingbeil, German finance minister · our summary of Der Spiegel
“Es ist ein Tabubruch, Rechtsextreme in solche Ämter zu wählen.”
Machine translation: “It is a breach of taboo to elect far-right extremists to such offices.”
Reactions from other countries and bodies, others involved, and commentary.
Hasselmann described the outcome as a threat to German democracy.
Our summary of The Hankyoreh
“We will not let ourselves be intimidated, and we will not sit by when rights are curtailed either here or for people in the state”
Quoted in BBC News
Glimbovski said she was shocked that an AfD politician had been elected president of a state parliament in Germany the previous day.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
“Ich bin geschockt, wie gestern ein AfD-Landtagspräsident gewählt werden konnte in Deutschland.”
No translation yet.
Glimbovski said the election worried her substantially more than a few left-wing antisemites.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
“Und das macht mir tatsächlich wesentlich mehr Sorgen als ein paar linke Antisemiten, die irgendwie Quatsch verzapfen.”
No translation yet.
Tobias Rausch was elected to the post.
Our summary of RIA Novosti, via MDR
On September 6, voters in Saxony-Anhalt elected a new state parliament.
Sources: Deutsche Welle
The AfD won 39 of 83 seats, five short of the 42 needed for an absolute majority.
On October 6, the parliament elected AfD politician Tobias Rausch as its president.
In the first round, 48 of 82 deputies voted for Tobias Rausch, 29 voted against and five abstained, according to the official count.
Tobias Rausch was elected president of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, making him the first AfD member in Germany to hold such a position.
On October 6, AfD’s Hans-Thomas Tillschneider and CDU’s Karsten Borchert were elected vice-presidents, while the SPD candidate lost.
Sources: Yonhap News Agency
AfD's Hans-Thomas Tillschneider and CDU's Karsten Borchert each won a majority and were elected vice-presidents, while the SPD candidate lost.
Scheduled for October 14, parliament’s extraordinary session is scheduled to consider the resolution.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda (via European Pravda)
The state parliament's extraordinary session was scheduled for 14 October.
Each outlet's headline, linked to its article. Non-English headlines are machine-translated. The groupings and notes on what each outlet emphasises are automated.
Our outlets in Ukraine didn't cover it. No statements from the government or officials of Russia or Ukraine are in our sources.
Written by our automated pipeline from the statements in the coverage; each point lists the statements it rests on.
The AfD won the election but fell short of an absolute majority, leaving the state’s governing arrangement unsettled.
Our summary of Deutsche Welle
Rausch’s election as parliament president was a postwar first for a representative of a party classified as right-wing extremist. His 48 votes exceeded the AfD and BSW’s combined 44 seats, but the secret ballot did not identify the additional voters.
Our summary of Deutsche Welle
Our summary of Le Monde
Our summary of Yonhap News Agency, via dpa
Friedrich Merz, German chancellor · our summary of Der Spiegel
“Wir wissen nicht, von wem insgesamt der AfD-Kandidat seine Stimmen erhalten hat.”
Machine translation: “We don’t know overall who the AfD candidate received his votes from.”
The AfD and BSW’s draft resolution calls for ending Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions, a ceasefire and peace talks; reports describe it as symbolic because state governments do not control Germany’s foreign policy.
Our summary of Der Spiegel
BSW and AfD, German political parties · our summary of Der Spiegel
BSW and AfD, German political parties · our summary of Der Spiegel
BSW and AfD, German political parties · our summary of Der Spiegel
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Empty chamber of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, photographed during a Landtag project on 14 December 2012.
File:Landtagsprojekt Sachsen-Anhalt by-RaBoe 2012 093.jpg · © Ra Boe / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
© Foto: Ra Boe / Wikipedia
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