2020 Thuringian government crisis

[3][4] Since none of the parties represented in the state parliament wanted to enter into negotiations with the AfD faction led by Björn Höcke, there was little prospect of a government coalition with a parliamentary majority.

[15] Kindervater, the mayor of Sundhausen, had previously made his mark by writing a letter to the members of the CDU, FDP and AfD factions of parliament in order to run for the office of Minister President in Thuringia.

[21] On the day before the election, Wolfgang Tiefensee, head of the SPD in Thuringia, warned the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper that such a "dam burst" would be "a serious damage to democracy" and as such would "radiate far beyond Germany."

According to media reports, however, CDU federal chair Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had asked FDP state leader Mohring and Lindner for Kemmerich not to run.

[25] The result of the secret ballot shows that the AfD had apparently voted unanimously for Kemmerich despite Kindervater's candidacy being upheld, along with most of the FDP and CDU members of parliament.

Kemmerich renounced the subsequently planned appointment of ministers and requested on behalf of the FDP faction that the state parliament session be adjourned indefinitely.

[35] According to state law experts Michael Meier and Robert Wille (research assistants at the University of Potsdam) and Matthias Friehe (EBS University), the ministers of the Ramelow cabinet continued to hold executive office from a legal point of view, as the Thuringian state constitution stipulates that ministers continue their activities until their successors take office.

[36][37][38][39] The State Secretaries remained in office: After the swearing-in, the leader of the Left parliamentary group, Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, refused to shake hands with Thomas Kemmerich and threw the bouquet of flowers intended for Ramelow at his feet.

"[43] Outside of Thuringia, Kemmerich's election initially met with spontaneous approval from right-wing groups, especially from the AfD, the conservative Values Union, and parts of the FDP.

Initially, the deputy federal chairman of the FDP, Wolfgang Kubicki, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that he was delighted that "a candidate from the democratic centre" had won, in view of the decision of the "majority of members in the Thuringian state parliament".

[44] Current and former leading FDP politicians such as Gerhart Baum,[47] Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann,[48] Alexander Lambsdorff[49] and Joachim Stamp[50] demanded his immediate resignation.

"[57] Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian Prime Minister and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, described Kemmerich's election as "unacceptable.

"[65] Herfried Münkler saw a "crisis of political personnel" and attested the CDU and FDP either "a remarkable lack of scruples" or "technical naivety": "This shows that we are dealing with people who are not up to real tasks, neither in tactical nor in strategic terms.

"[67] According to the historian Volker Weiß, the AfD votes for an FDP Minister President were irritating at first glance, but Mr. Höcke is trying to "change his image" and wants to "offer himself as a serious partner".

[70] The Dresden political scientist Werner J. Patzelt evaluated Kemmerich's election as proof of a failed strategy in dealing with the AfD and stated: "The CDU is now paying the price for its policy of having released the right-wing fringe.

Beucker further stated that Kemmerich is a party functionary who stands "for a renaissance of those long suppressed, tightly national-liberal times of the FDP before the social-liberal turn at the end of the 1960s" and that means "ideologically wide open to the right.

The fact that "precisely this right-wing extremist Höcke-AfD has so easily managed to present the democratic parties as incapable of consensus is a political disaster with far-reaching consequences," said Heubner.

"[83] Demonstrations against the election of Kemmerich on the same day, called by the parties The Left, SPD and the Greens as well as other organizations,[84][85][86] brought together several thousand people in at least 15 German cities, 6 of them in Thuringia.

[94] Since his election as Minister President, Kemmerich has been exposed to organized "hatred in the form of threatening letters and mass mailings," according to the FDP state executive board.

[98] On 6 February 2020, the day after the election, Christian Lindner went to Thuringia to persuade Thomas Kemmerich to resign, which he also tied to continuing his own office as party chairman.

After a meeting of the coalition committee chaired by Angela Merkel on 8 February 2020, the federal chairmen Norbert Walter-Borjans, Saskia Esken (both SPD), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) and Markus Söder (CSU) called for new elections to the Thuringian state parliament.

Rütten's opinion was that while Björn Höcke was spreading nationalistic ideas and was only satisfied with the absolute majority, the Left Party had been showing for decades that it was involved in shaping democratic, responsible policies when it came to participation in government.

[135] On 17 February 2020, representatives of the Left, SPD, Greens and CDU met for the first time for negotiations with the aim of finding a joint solution to avert the "incipient state crisis" (Ramelow quote).

Lieberknecht thereupon withdrew her willingness to run as interim minister president and announced that she had only wanted to accept Ramelow's proposal for a solution with quick new elections.

"[139] In Lieberknecht's opinion, true political stability in the Thuringian parliament could only be achieved by recognizing the real majority situation and by agreeing on reliable parliamentary cooperation between the CDU and the Left.

The cooperation of the four parties provides for Bodo Ramelow to be elected Minister President on 4 March 2020 and to lead a minority government of Left, SPD, and Greens.

In his inaugural speech, Ramelow expressed his pleasure at the end of the government crisis, thanked the CDU in particular for concluding the stability pact, and called on the parliamentary groups in the state parliament to cooperate constructively.

Katja Kipping, the federal chairwoman of the Left party, expressed similar sentiments; Germany could learn from Thuringia that the political right wing would not win against a "genuine alternative based on solidarity."

[154] A few days later, the AfD parliamentary group in the Thuringian state parliament filed a motion of no confidence against Ramelow and proposed Björn Höcke as the new Minister President.

[155] AfD deputy Stefan Möller had previously told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that he saw no chance of success, saying, "The vote of no confidence is not aimed at Bodo Ramelow," but "primarily in the CDU's corner and marginally also in the direction of the FDP.