Germany's far-right AfD makes history again in Saxony-Anhalt

On a morning in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, a crowd of around 500 gathered at Cathedral Square, declaring that October 6 was not like any other day. Banners read "Against Forgetting – Fascism Must Remain a Crime" and "No cooperation with the far right." Tobias Rausch, a real estate agent from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), was elected as the state parliament's speaker at 12:40 p.m., receiving 48 votes – 9 more than his party holds in the parliament.

This marks a significant turning point, as it's the first time in post-World War II history that a German state parliament has elected a representative from a party classified as right-wing extremist by the domestic intelligence agency. The inaugural session was opened by Eva von Angern, a member of the socialist Left Party and the parliament's senior member, who noted that only a few women in German history had held such a high office.

The AfD caucus did not express support for her words, which emphasized the inviolability of human dignity. Rausch, a 35-year-old, is relatively approachable, yet his proximity to nepotism accusations in the AfD did not deter his nomination. The parliament's seating arrangement saw the AfD in the center, facing the lectern, while the traditional center-right and center-left parties were placed on the edges, signaling a shift in power dynamics.

The AfD garnered 39 of the 83 seats in the September 6 election, securing a position just shy of an absolute majority. This result made the election the most closely watched regional election in Germany in recent years, with several international media present, including several hundred journalists.