Nine MPs outside AfD backed Rausch in speaker vote

Rausch, 35, received 48 of 82 votes at the newly elected parliament’s inaugural sitting in Magdeburg. The AfD holds 39 seats, so at least nine votes came from members of other parties. The totals do not show who voted for him; dpa said it was likely that CDU members were among them. [1]

The AfD won the state election but fell short of an outright majority, according to the ANP/DPA report. The report also says a German intelligence service has designated the party a right-wing extremist organisation. [1]

Hundreds of people demonstrated outside the parliament, calling on other parties not to cooperate with the AfD, the report said. [1]

Update

The AfD fell three seats short of a majority in Saxony-Anhalt’s September state election, but its candidate Tobias Rausch won the subsequent vote for speaker with support from nine MPs outside the party. Five were from BSW; the other four have not been identified. [2]

The BBC says an unconfirmed report suggested that four CDU MPs voted for Rausch, but it does not establish who cast those votes. CDU state MPs had said before the ballot that they would not vote for the AfD. [2]