AfD wins presidency of Saxony-Anhalt state parliament with support from far left

Far-right lawmaker Tobias Rausch won the presidency of the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt on Tuesday, supported by left-wing populists.

Rausch secure 48 votes, with 29 lawmakers voting against him and five abstentions. Forty-two votes were needed to obtain an absolute majority. This is the first time that an Alternative for Germany politician will lead a German state parliament.

He promised serve the entire state, protect the rights of minorities and apply the same rules to all parties. But he also said that “the era of political firewalls should be a thing of the past.”

The far-left Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht party, or BSW, had promised sustain Rauschciting the convention that the largest parliamentary faction gets the presidency. This decision attracted criticism from opponents and demonstratorswho said it helped normalize the AfD; domestic intelligence officials classified the Saxony-Anhalt branch of the party as confirmed extremist.