The new Saxon state parliament has been constituted and, in addition to adopting its rules of procedure, has also made its first personnel decisions. CDU politician Alexander Dierks will serve as President of the state parliament for the next five years. He received 97 out of a possible 119 votes. 14 MPs voted against him, eight abstained. Dierks is the youngest state parliament president in Saxony to date. He will be 37 years old on Wednesday. The office has previously only been held by men.
Thought-provoking note for alliance Sahra Wagenknecht and above all for the SPD
The voting behavior can be confidently interpreted as a lesson for the BSW and the SPD. Both parties are currently holding preliminary talks to prepare for exploratory talks and coalition negotiations for a joint government. The three partners have a total of 66 seats in the state parliament. Both Scheibe and Pallas should therefore have easily got through the first election campaign if they had been in agreement. It should now be clear how difficult it will be to form a coalition.
The Social Democrats had insisted on an additional fourth Vice-President, which also caused a lot of criticism at the constituent meeting. After all, the post means considerable additional costs for the taxpayer. The SPD was obviously punished by the lack of votes for Pallas in the first two rounds of voting.
Having good, controversial and tough debates
Before Dierks took his seat in the President's chair, he addressed the MPs. Parliament is the playing field on which political debates are held and the diversity of opinions, wishes, needs and criticisms are expressed, he said. He hoped that the state parliament would live up to this mission.
"We are competitors. We are sometimes opponents in tough debates. But we are never enemies," said Dierks to applause from the MPs. Parliament is the place where parliamentary democracy can prove that it is capable of finding solutions to major social conflicts. Democracy is more than just a mathematical counting procedure to determine the majority.