AfD member of parliament Hannes Loth becomes the new mayor of the small town of Raguhn-Jeßnitz in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district. The 42-year-old prevailed in the runoff against non-party Nils Naumann. According to the provisional official results for the city in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, Loth received 51.13 percent of the votes. His challenger received 48.87 percent.
Loth had already been ahead in the first ballot in mid-June. At that time, however, none of the four candidates could achieve an absolute majority. The previous mayor of Raguhn-Jeßnitz, Bernd Marbach, (non-party) resigned from office early in the spring for health reasons.
Like his opponent Naumann, Loth grew up in Raguhn-Jeßnitz. He is a farmer and was a manager in an agricultural company. Loth has been a member of the state parliament for the right-wing populist AfD since 2016. In the election campaign, he focused on municipal issues. He wants to improve economic development and the equipment of the fire brigades.
Almost 7,800 citizens were entitled to vote in the small town. Voter turnout was reported to be 61.51 percent.
Second important post for the AfD
For the AfD, filling the mayor’s office after the office of district administrator in the district of Sonneberg is another prominent post in public administration. Robert Stuhlmann’s election victory in East German Thuringia a few days ago further fueled the debate about the AfD’s current high. In Germany-wide surveys, the party ranks at around 20 percent.
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia rates the AfD regional association there as “safe right-wing extremism”, Germany-wide the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the party as a suspected case of right-wing extremism.
se/sti (mdr, epd, dpa)
Source: DW
