Im Dezember: Duell bei Ministerpräsidentenwahl in Sachsen-Anhalt?

AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund may seek a challenger for the Minister-President election in Saxony-Anhalt next December. The Link faction leader, Eva von Angern, is considering running against Siegmund. Her faction is debating the formation of a "real alternative in the form of their own candidate for the position of Minister-President," von Angern told the Magdeburger Volksstimme.

A Link faction spokesperson confirmed that the decision would be made during a faction meeting on Tuesday. The consideration initially applies to the first round of voting. The AfD supports "backward-looking politics and the division of the country," von Angern emphasized. However, the Link politicians stressed that it is not a matter of less but more cohesion.

Eva von Angern was the Linke's candidate for the state election in September, her second time as the top candidate since 2021. As a lawyer, she primarily advocates for social justice in the parliament. She is one of the harshest critics of the AfD in the parliament. At the state election on September 6, the Linke ended up in fifth place with 8.6 percent. The AfD was by far the strongest party with 43.8 percent.

Siegmund intends to stand for the election in December, requiring three votes from other parties. The CDU faction decided to leave the hall for the election. BSW intends to abstain. It remains unclear how Siegmund will manage to secure a majority. He has announced that he will only stand in one round of voting. The Linke has eight seats in the parliament.

In the first and second rounds of the Minister-President election, an absolute majority is required - that is 42 votes. Von Angern would only have a chance if CDU, SPD, Greens, BSW, and Linke all vote together. This scenario is considered unlikely.

The Minister-President election will not succeed if it fails in the first round, a second round must be held within seven days. If this is also unsuccessful, the Landtag has 14 days to decide whether to end the election period prematurely. If this is not decided, a third round will take place immediately, requiring only the majority of the cast votes.

The CDU faction's plan to leave the hall will depend on the results of a Land party congress on December 5. The current CDU chairman Sven Schulze (CDU) is not seeking re-election as the party's Land leader. The decision of the CDU faction to leave the hall is controversial and has been the subject of debate for weeks. After the election of the Landtag president Tobias Rausch (AfD), CDU members were accused of voting for Rausch from the CDU.

To prevent speculation about the Minister-President election, the CDU faction decided to take this unusual step. However, at least one CDU member wants to stay in the hall and will not abide by the CDU faction's decision.