With the votes of three left-wing parties, Thuringia’s CDU leader Mario Voigt was elected Prime Minister on Thursday. Voigt received the necessary absolute majority in the first round of voting because his blackberry coalition made up of the CDU, SPD and the newly founded Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) reached an agreement with the Left Party at the last minute. The CDU, SPD and BSW together only have half of the 88 seats in the Thuringian state parliament; one vote was missing for an absolute majority in the first round of voting. The Left Party has twelve MPs – the strongest faction in the state elections on September 1st was the AfD, which is classified as right-wing extremist, with 32 seats.
Last week, their party and parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke brought up the possibility of electing Voigt in the first round of voting – probably calculating that this would have put Voigt and the CDU in considerable trouble of explaining. 51 MPs voted for Voigt in a secret ballot on Thursday. Höcke said after the election that the AfD had voted “completely and unitedly” against Voigt.
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Only shortly before the state parliament meeting, Left parliamentary group leader Christian Schaft promised to support Voigt in the first round of voting “so as not to offer the AfD a platform”. But this is only a leap of faith, not a blank check for the coalition. The alliance of CDU, SPD and BSW – a novelty in Germany – will also have to seek a majority in parliament to pass the budget and laws. For this purpose, a fixed discussion format was agreed with the Left in which the four parties talk to each other once a month. An incompatibility decision prohibits the CDU from forming coalitions or working closely with the AfD and the Left Party.
Ramelow is one of the Voigt voters
CDU leader Friedrich Merz congratulated Voigt on his election. It was possible to form a government “under very difficult conditions and without concessions on the fundamental questions of our politics”: “A great success for the Free State Thuringia.” Voigt said after being sworn in as head of government that there was a “spirit of cooperation and a new political culture.” He appreciates “that today was a first-round election.”
In 2020, the prime ministerial election in Thuringia triggered a political earthquake. At that time, the AfD nominated its own candidate, but then, together with the CDU and FDP, elected the liberal Thomas Kemmerich as Prime Minister in the third round of voting. He resigned shortly afterwards after immense public pressure. The coalition of the Left Party, the Greens and the SPD went into the election without its own majority and without a fixed agreement with the CDU. A mistake that the CDU has obviously learned from.
Voigt’s predecessor Bodo Ramelow from the Left Party said both the coalition and the Left had moved. “In the end, what matters is that you work with a democratic majority and don’t let the poison of the AfD destroy your democracy.” When asked, Ramelow confirmed that he was one of Voigt’s voters in the state parliament. He had already indicated shortly after the state elections that he himself could help Voigt achieve the necessary majority. Ramelow had led a red-red-green minority government for the past five years. This depended on votes from the CDU, for example to decide on the budget. In the last legislative period, however, Voigt’s CDU also passed laws with the AfD.
In the early afternoon, Ramelow handed over the official duties to his successor Voigt in the State Chancellery. “There is already a stack on the table,” he prepared Voigt for his work. He praised the good, warm and friendly change of government. “The impressive thing is that Thuringia is no longer a political problem description,” said Voigt. Thuringia is now a country “that gets things done”. At 47, Voigt is Germany’s youngest prime minister. He was born in Thuringia, lives in Jena with his wife and two children and is an experienced state politician – he has been a member of parliament in Erfurt for 15 years.
His coalition partners attest that he conducted the negotiations constructively and persistently and that a relationship of trust was created between the unequal partners. The demands of BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht have proven particularly difficult in recent weeks, as she has repeatedly intervened in the local discussions with maximum foreign policy demands. The negotiations were on the verge of failure on several occasions.
Voigt’s cabinet is scheduled to be sworn in in the state parliament on Friday. The CDU occupies four ministerial positions, the BSW three and the SPD two.
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