Parliament - AfD candidate Mertens fails in vice-presidential election
AfD MP Christian Mertens failed to be elected Vice-President of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament on Wednesday. Mertens received 28 yes votes in a secret ballot. 61 MPs voted against the AfD politician, with one abstention. The right-wing populists have 23 out of 97 MPs in parliament and were therefore reliant on support from other parliamentary groups.
With Mertens, the AfD repeatedly attempted to obtain a vice president in the state parliament. The majority of MPs in the parliamentary group were already standing for election to the post. However, none of the candidates met with sufficient approval from the other parliamentary groups. The AfD makes a new attempt in almost every parliamentary session. However, several parliamentary groups repeatedly made it clear that they did not want to elect an AfD candidate.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the state association of the Alternative for Germany as definitely right-wing extremist. The authority has evaluated numerous anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic statements made by functionaries and elected representatives.
Gunnar Schellenberger (CDU) has been President of the state parliament since July 2021. His deputies are Anne-Marie Keding (CDU) and Wulf Gallert (Die Linke).
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Despite repeated attempts, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt was unable to secure a vice-president role in the state parliament with Christian Mertens, as 61 MPs voted against him. The classification of the state association of the Alternative for Germany as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution could have impacted his chances.
In the future state parliament sessions, the AfD may continue to nominate personalities for the vice-presidential position, but the majority of parliamentary groups have consistently expressed their unwillingness to elect an AfD candidate.
Source: www.stern.de
