Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The AfD MP Jan Scharfenort failed on Thursday in the election for vice president in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt. In a secret ballot, Scharfenort received 31 yes votes. 61 MPs voted against him. After the announcement of the election results, the AfD parliamentary group did not apply for another ballot.
The AfD has 23 out of 97 members of parliament and was therefore dependent on support from other groups. With Scharfenort, the AfD made repeated attempts to get a vice president in the state parliament. Previously, the applicants Matthias Büttner from Staßfurt, Hagen Kohl, Christian Hecht, Matthias Lieschke, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider and Lothar Waehler had not found approval from the other groups.
In the past, several factions had repeatedly made it clear that they did not want to vote for an AfD candidate. AfD parliamentary group leader Oliver Kirchner had said in the run-up to the state parliament session that candidates would continue to be named. This belongs to his group.
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).
