SPD retains Mecklenburg-Vorpommern parliamentary presidency as AfD blocked from leadership
SPD politician Birgit Hesse was re-elected Landtag president in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, defeating AfD’s Carlos Dias Rodrigues 39-31 votes.
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.
Why it matters
It shows opposition parties preventing the AfD, despite being the largest faction, from controlling parliamentary leadership.
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