CDU demands expulsions if members helped elect AfD’s Tobias Rausch as Saxony-Anhalt speaker

Dennis Radtke, leader of the CDU’s social wing, urged the party to launch exclusion proceedings if it turns out that CDU legislators voted for AfD politician Tobias Rausch in the election for Saxony-Anhalt’s Landtag president. Rausch, an AfD member, was elected with 48 affirmative votes, while 29 opposed and five abstained; the combined AfD and BSW factions account for 44 seats, suggesting a handful of votes came from other parties.

Radtke warned that enabling right-wing extremists to assume political responsibility must carry penalties and that the CDU’s principles must apply uniformly across federal and state levels. He emphasized that the party’s guidelines cannot remain mere recommendations or allow regional leniency. The call reflects internal tension within the CDU over cooperation with the far-right.