Schwerin: Hesse keeps state parliament presidency as AfD candidate falls short
The AfD is the largest party in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's new legislature with 32 of 71 seats. But lawmakers re-elected Birgit Hesse of the Social Democrats as president with 39 votes.
Archive image · Photo: User:Kolossos / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Birgit Hesse of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) will remain president of the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. At the inaugural session in Schwerin Castle on Tuesday, she won 39 of 70 valid votes. The candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Carlos Rodrigues, received 31. Hesse has led the legislature since 2019.
The AfD holds 32 of the 71 seats, making it the largest group, but lacks a majority. The SPD (29), the Left Party (5) and the Greens (5) are negotiating a coalition in parallel. The election of the state premier is expected about four weeks after the inaugural session.
Acting president Ralf Mucha, the chamber's oldest member and an SPD lawmaker, called for debate "in which we can argue hard on the issues" but "fair in tone, without insults." The AfD accuses the future coalition of trying to sideline it in parliament; the SPD rejects that.