{
  "id": 12435047,
  "title": "Sachsen-Anhalt: Zwischen betretenem Schweigen und Siegmunds Grinsen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/sachsen-anhalt-zwischen-betretenem-schweigen-und-siegmunds-grinsen",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-06T17:39:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/afd-landtagspraesident-zwischen-betretenem-schweigen-und-siegmunds-grinsen/100260168.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "At 12:50 PM, Tobias Rausch takes the seat of the chairperson of the Sachsen-Anhalt Landtag. Before him, a large bell, microphone, and a printed speech. For the first time, an AfD member has taken up the position of Landtag President. The election, a test for a possible AfD government, has succeeded more than expected from a right-wing perspective. Not only did Rausch win the votes of his own faction and likely the members of the BSW, but he also received four additional votes – probably from CDU members. Rausch now sits in the oval room of the Landtag in Magdeburg, facing a block of 39 AfD members who are centrally positioned, with the Greens on the left. The new Landtag President appears less interested in the commotion surrounding his person than AfD Minister-President candidate Ulrich Siegmund, who smiles into every camera that day. Rausch activates the microphone, invites everyone to take their seats. \"I would ask the press to leave then,\" says the Landtag President, thanking those who placed their trust in him. Rausch emphasizes the non-partisanship of his office, attempting to conduct himself as a president. He will certainly make decisions that not everyone agrees with, he says, and stresses that he will not seek retribution for the past. \"We can write history today,\" Rausch said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel before the session, and remained reserved about the upcoming votes: \"Just because the BSW has announced certain decisions to be taken with us now does not mean that we support every decision of ours fundamentally.\" The style of the AfD was already evident in the first session. However, it was already noticeable during the session how the five BSW members were not only spatially but also in a transferred sense close to the AfD. They voted together on formalities, clapped for each other, and voted secretly for Rausch on a secret ballot. And what style can be expected here after the largely orderly session until midday? AfD Minister-President candidate Ulrich Siegmund is impatient, sighs, and twirls his tie. The parliamentary culture seems to have suffered significantly after the AfD's arrival in the Landtag, according to Alterspräsidentin Eva von Angern (Left), referring to the previous legislative period. While the AfD takes their seats one by one, the room is between festivity and hidden silence. They follow the predetermined path of the agenda as Tagesordnungspunkt 8 – Rausch's election – approaches. While von Angern opens this, Siegmund taps his phone, grins broadly like someone commenting on a TikTok video. When called for the vote, he pats Rausch on the shoulder, then throws the ballot in the urn and shows a thumb up to the photographers. Elected with 48 votes, Rausch completes the election. As Green Fraction Leader Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz gives a speech before the handover of the office, calling for the AfD to be democratically confronted with its seating arrangement, the AfD members – 37 men and two women – hiss and laugh. Even though the Minister-President election in December will be the more significant milestone for AfD, they have not only tested but expanded their power with the election of Rausch. Party bosses Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla declared that the blockade has ended in Magdeburg today. \"The year-long marginalization of our party has finally come to an end,\" they said. They wished Siegmund a successful outcome. After Rausch was elected, CDU Fraktion Head Sven Schulze also presented flowers to the new Landtag President, and Siegmund called out \"All Good.\" The men laughed into the cameras, while Alterspräsidentin von Angern quietly withdrew.",
  "summary": "Tobias Rauch wird erster AfD-Landtagspräsident. In der ersten Sitzung des neu gewählten Magdeburger Landtags gewinnt nicht nur die AfD – es wird auch deutlich, was politisch bevorstehen könnte.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}