AfD and Wagenknecht Alliance move toward deal on Saxony-Anhalt parliament posts
The far-right AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance appear to be nearing agreement on leadership positions in Saxony-Anhalt's new state parliament, though both sides continue to rule out a coalition or an AfD premier.
An agreement appears to be taking shape between the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) over leadership posts in Saxony-Anhalt's newly elected state parliament.
BSW is reaffirming its earlier pledge to back an AfD candidate for the post of parliament speaker. Claudia Wittig, the BSW's state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, said it is standard practice for the largest faction to receive the speakership, though no final agreement with the AfD has yet been reached. At the same time, Wittig again ruled out electing AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund as the state's premier, saying BSW favors a non-partisan candidate for that post.
A day earlier, representatives of both parties had already signaled a possible deal during an appearance on German broadcaster ARD's studio program in Berlin, including BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali. According to available information, an AfD lawmaker would become parliament speaker while a BSW lawmaker would serve as deputy speaker. However, Mohamed Ali also excluded any coalition with the AfD and rejected Siegmund's candidacy for premier.
Tobias Rausch, who manages the AfD faction's affairs in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament, said his faction would support whoever supports the AfD's parliamentary work. It remains publicly unclear whether the two factions have agreed on specific candidates.
Together, the AfD and BSW control 44 of the parliament's 83 seats. Members of the parliament's presidium are elected by secret ballot and must win a majority of valid votes cast. Under current parliamentary rules, the three largest factions may each nominate one candidate for deputy speaker, but BSW does not qualify as one of those three factions and therefore currently has no right to put forward its own candidate. To do so, BSW would need either a change to the nomination rules or to have its candidate nominated through a faction that holds that right — how this might happen remains an open question.
