Germany Conservative becomes Prime Minister of Thuringia with the help of the Left Party

Conservative politician Mario Voigt (CDU) has been elected as the new Prime Minister of the eastern German state of Thuringia.

The 47-year-old received an absolute majority in the first round of voting in the state parliament in Erfurt, although his coalition of the CDU, the left-wing nationalist BSW and the Social Democrats (SPD) does not have a majority of its own.

This was made possible because Germany's first so-called Brombeer coalition reached a last-minute agreement with the Left Party before the state parliament session so that the outcome of the election would not be dependent on the right-wing populist AfD with its far-right leader Björn Höcke.

The Left announced votes for Voigt. "The AfD must not be given a platform," said Christian Schaft, head of the Left Party parliamentary group in Thuringia, explaining the decision.

In the first round of voting for the Minister President, 51 MPs voted for Voigt, 33 against him and four MPs abstained. Voigt needed at least 45 votes in favor.

However, his Brombeer coalition only has 44 of the 88 seats in the state parliament. Due to the secret ballot in voting booths, it remained unclear whether any votes came from the AD. Voigt accepted the election.

Second government participation of the BSW

Voigt, who holds a doctorate in political science, is the first minister president of the Thuringian CDU after ten years in opposition. Voigt, who is also the state chairman of his party, replaces Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) in the state chancellery, who most recently led a red-red-green minority government.

For the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance, the coalition in Thuringia is the second entry into a state government after Brandenburg in the year the party was founded.

AfD left its actions open until the end

The election was risky for Voigt and his Brombeer coalition, which was forged in difficult negotiations: the AfD, with its right-wing extremist Björn Höcke, is the only federal state in Thuringia to have the strongest parliamentary group with 32 MPs.

The Thuringian AfD, which is classified and monitored by the German domestic intelligence service as proven right-wing extremist, had left its voting behavior open. Before the election, the Brombeer coalition members were concerned that Voigt could come into office with votes from the AfD.

Agreement with the Left

In order to break the stalemate in the state parliament, the CDU in particular approached the Left Party with its 12 MPs this week to prevent the election of its Minister President with AfD votes.

The Thuringian Left imposed conditions in order to ensure Voigt's election to office with their votes. They demanded a written agreement, a kind of set of rules between the four parliamentary groups for dealing with each other in parliament and during votes.

The coalition offered the Left Party an agreement, Voigt spoke of a "specification of duties". A resolution of incompatibility prohibits the CDU from working together with the Left Party on a contractual basis.

Before the election, Left Party parliamentary group leader Schaft had said that votes would be offered in the first round of voting. However, this was not an endorsement of the policies of the Brombeer coalition of CDU, BSW and SPD.

The agreement reached on Thursday night is to apply to the entire legislative period. It also states that there will be no cooperation with the AfD.

Voigt comes from Thuringia

Voigt was born in Thuringia and lives in Jena with his wife and two children. He is an experienced state politician - he has been a member of parliament in Erfurt for 15 years.

He spent weeks negotiating a coalition agreement with the BSW and SPD, which was accompanied by disputes over the issues of war and peace and the stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany.

It was finally approved by the party committees of the three partners and signed on Wednesday.