Far-right party secures speaker role in Saxony-Anhalt

 

Wiktor Nummelin/TT

 

Published 14.27

 

Tobias Rausch of the AfD has been elected speaker of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt. Photo: Jan Woitas/DPA/AP/TT

Germany’s far-right AfD party has secured its first speaker position as 35-year-old Tobias Rausch takes on the role in Saxony-Anhalt.

The AfD lawmaker thus becomes the first representative of a far-right party to preside over a German state parliament since World War II.

The AfD emerged as the clear winner in the Saxony-Anhalt state election in early September, capturing nearly 44 percent of the vote. In Tuesday’s vote for the speaker, the party also received support from the five members of the far-left BSW party and four additional lawmakers—a development that paves the way for the AfD to potentially secure majority support for a new state government later on.