CDU plans to leave chamber for election of AfD candidate
Party leaders in Saxony-Anhalt seek to prevent suspicions of covert support for Ulrich Siegmund.
Listen to this article
There is no audio version yet. Request one and an AI voice will read the article aloud.
Read by an AI voice.
The CDU parliamentary group in the German state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt is considering leaving the plenary chamber during the planned election of AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund. The move is intended to prevent CDU MPs from secretly voting for Siegmund or being accused of doing so.
The proposal comes from the CDU parliamentary leadership and is due to be put to the group on Tuesday. Parliamentary group leader Sven Schulze and parliamentary director Stefan Ruland say their party will not support Siegmund. The election of the Minister-President is scheduled for December.
The discussion arose after AfD politician Tobias Rausch was elected president of the state parliament. Rausch received 48 votes, while the AfD and BSW together have 44 seats. At that vote, 82 of the 83 seats were occupied and there were five abstentions.
Because the vote was secret, it cannot be established where the additional votes came from. SPD, Linke and Grünen suspected that CDU MPs had voted for Rausch. The CDU rejected the accusations. The party had recommended abstention in the earlier vote.
According to the current seat distribution, the AfD is still three votes short of electing Siegmund. The BSW has said it is prepared to abstain at most. Siegmund has announced that in December he intends to stand as a candidate only in the first round of voting.
Leaving the chamber would effectively exclude CDU MPs from the vote. This would allow the party to prevent individual members from being identified as possible supporters of the AfD, but the measure could also prompt fresh debate about the role of a large opposition group in an important parliamentary election.
The issue goes beyond the choice of office-holder in Saxony-Anhalt. The AfD is providing a state parliament president there for the first time. The party's regional branch is classified as right-wing extremist by Saxony-Anhalt's domestic intelligence service.
When the first reports appeared, it was not yet known whether the CDU parliamentary group would definitively adopt the proposal. Nor is it certain that Siegmund will receive enough votes in December. A secret ballot makes any support from individual MPs difficult to verify.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The CDU is considering leaving the chamber during a planned secret ballot on an AfD candidate.
- According to the reported distribution of seats, the AfD is three votes short.
- The earlier election of an AfD state parliament president produced more votes than the AfD and BSW held between them.
Left
Arguments A party classified as right-wing extremist should not come to power through the tacit support of established parties. The CDU must actively prevent a secret ballot from concealing the political normalisation of the AfD.
Values Protecting the democratic rule of law, clear boundaries and minority protection.
Consequences Leaving the chamber makes distance visible, but it may also be seen as evading parliamentary responsibility.
Centre
Arguments The CDU must make its own exclusion of cooperation with the AfD credible while respecting parliamentary procedures. Transparent agreements within the parliamentary group are institutionally stronger than improvisation around a secret ballot.
Values Procedural care, administrative stability and verifiable responsibility.
Consequences A joint strategy may limit speculation, but it does not resolve the underlying distribution of seats and political division.
Right
Arguments Election results and parliamentary rules must remain decisive. If the AfD is the largest parliamentary group, it should, from this perspective, be able to nominate its candidate; other parties may vote against the candidate, but should not avoid a ballot.
Values The voters' mandate, parliamentary representation and equal treatment of parties within the rules.
Consequences A boycott may create the impression that established parties are excluding some voters, but direct cooperation with the AfD may carry political and institutional risks for the CDU.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The latest development has been confirmed by MDR and fits with the previously described vote and balance of power reported by Tagesschau. The text separates established facts from speculation about possible secret votes.
- confirmed The CDU parliamentary group is considering leaving the plenary chamber during the election of Ulrich Siegmund. — MDR describes the proposal from the parliamentary leadership and the planned discussion by the group. source
- confirmed The election of the Minister-President is scheduled for December. — MDR reports that Siegmund intends to stand for election in the first round in December. source
- confirmed Tobias Rausch received 48 votes with five abstentions. — Tagesschau reports the result and the presence of 82 of the 83 MPs. source
- confirmed The AfD and BSW together had 44 seats at that vote. — MDR reports that Rausch received four more votes than the AfD and BSW held between them. source
- confirmed The AfD's regional branch is classified as right-wing extremist by Saxony-Anhalt's domestic intelligence service. — Tagesschau describes this classification as an assessment by the regional Verfassungsschutz. source
Editor's note
The CDU parliamentary leadership's proposal, the earlier result for Tobias Rausch and Siegmund's planned candidacy are certain. The parliamentary group's final decision and the outcome of the Minister-President election in December are uncertain.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „duitsland saksen-anhalt”
- Trouw — „duitsland saksen-anhalt”
- NRC — „duitsland saksen-anhalt”