After state election, Eva von Angern to open Saxony-Anhalt parliament as senior presiding member

Eva von Angern, the Left party's lead candidate in the election campaign, will open the first session of Saxony-Anhalt's newly elected state parliament as its senior presiding member. At 49, she is the parliament's longest-serving lawmaker, according to the parliamentary administration in Magdeburg.

The senior presiding member leads the opening session until lawmakers elect a new parliamentary president. The constitution requires the new parliament to convene no later than the 30th day after the election, which falls on Oct. 6. The office can be declined. Lars-Jörn Zimmer and Marco Tullner, both from the CDU, follow von Angern in the order of precedence.

At the opening session, von Angern will name two lawmakers to form a provisional presidium with her. She will establish that the parliament has a quorum by calling the roll, then oversee the election of the parliamentary president.

The AfD, as the strongest parliamentary group, will nominate a candidate for president. The three strongest groups will each propose a candidate for vice president. A candidate needs a majority of valid votes cast to win.

A parliamentary reform adopted this year limits the strongest group's exclusive nomination right to the first ballot. From the second round, all parliamentary groups may put forward candidates. If no majority emerges, further ballots will follow. In 2021, CDU lawmaker Detlef Gürth opened the previous legislative session as senior presiding member.