SPD retains Landtag presidency in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern after secret ballot

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament held a full-attendance vote to fill its president and two vice-presidents. SPD member Birgit Hesse retained the presidency, winning 39 votes to AfD candidate Carlos Dias Rodrigues’s 31, with one ballot declared invalid. Former Die Linke president Simone Oldenburg was re-elected as a vice-president by the same margin, 39-32.

The second vice-presidency went to Green newcomer Maya Tischler, who also defeated Rodrigues 39-32. Although the AfD holds the most seats in the Landtag, the other parties—SPD, Die Linke and the Greens—refused to acknowledge its customary claim to the speaker’s chair, leaving the party without any presiding roles.