AKK on election in Thuringia: CDU leadership is unanimous for new elections

In Thuringia, FDP man Kemmerich becomes Prime Minister with the help of the AfD. There are demonstrations. The CDU wants new elections. The live ticker.

• In Thuringia , Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) was elected Prime Minister
• He owes his surprising victory in the third ballot to the votes of the AfD
• The horror of the outcome of the election is huge, especially the FDP is criticized

>>> Update ticker <<<

Update, 05.02.2020, 7.30 p.m .: The CDU leadership unanimously recommends new elections in the Free State after the controversial Prime Minister election in Thuringia. The party presidium had unanimously spoken in a switching conference, said party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Wednesday evening in Strasbourg.

"It is now up to the elected prime minister to make the decision for himself whether he wants to remain a prime minister at Höcke's mercy or not," said Kramp-Karrenbauer, AKK for short.

On Twitter, she announced that there would be no CDU ministers in a "Kemmerich cabinet". She also ruled out cooperation with the AfD.

The CDU Presidium also includes Thuringia's CDU parliamentary group leader Mike Mohring; it was initially unclear whether he took part in the switching conference.

The Presidium of @cdu unanimously followed my line: no CDU ministers in a "Kemmerich cabinet", no cooperation with the AfD.
The best thing is that voters in Thuringia should have the choice again.

Horror and demonstrations of your choice: "I am ashamed of Thuringia"

Update, 05.02.2020, 5.46 p.m .: There is great outrage and horror that FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich has voted for the Prime Minister in Thuringia with the votes of the AfD. In Frankfurt around 60 people have gathered at the Hauptwache to show their displeasure with the outcome of the election and their concern about a further strengthening of the extreme right. A rally at Paulsplatz in Frankfurt will follow later.

According to the police, around 100 demonstrators gathered in the afternoon before the state parliament in Erfurt. Individual posters referred to historical parallels in Thuringia. "1930 first minister of the NSDAP, 2020 first prime minister with votes of the AfD", was one inscription.

Election in Thuringia: "Outrageous", "Terrifying", "Super"

"Frightening, bad news, unbelievable" were also spontaneous reactions in a street survey by the German press agency in Erfurt. "I am stunned how one uses Nazis out of lust for power to become prime minister," said a 46-year-old dpa from Erfurt. "And I'm ashamed of Thuringia." Like most of the other respondents, she did not want to give her name.

Another found the FDP "brazen". "It is not my understanding of democracy that a person who has just come to the Landtag with noiselessness is not my understanding of democracy," said the dpa passer-by, referring to the 5 percent election result of the FDP. "I never thought that Kemmerich would give himself up for it," said a pensioner from Erfurt.

But there was also approval. Another senior spoke of a skillful move. "Maybe the many foreigners on the Anger will disappear now." Thomas Huntgeburth, a self-confessed FDP voter, from Erfurt was really enthusiastic: "Great. Kemmerich is Wessi, businessman - he can do something."

Lindner (FDP) on the election of Kemmerich by AfD: "No cooperation"

Update, 05.02.2020, 16:27: FDP boss Christian Lindner has entered the stage. “Thomas Kemmerich started as a middle candidate and won. The support of the AfD is surprising, since it is not motivated by agreement, but purely tactically motivated. The FDP does not negotiate or cooperate with the AfD. There is no basis for cooperation. We don't support that party's goals and values. ”

Thomas Kemmerich had previously confirmed that he shared this position. "We appeal to the SPD, the Union and the Greens to accept Thomas Kemmerich's offer of talks." Should the parties "refuse" to cooperate with the new government, new elections would be expected soon and from Lindner's point of view necessary.

Update, February 5, 2020, 4:04 pm: Thomas Kemmerich said in his first speech as the new Prime Minister that he wanted to form a government in the middle. He strives for it together with the CDU, SPD and the Greens. He distinguished himself sharply from the AfD: “The firewalls against the AfD remain. (...) I am anti-AfD, anti-humps. "

Update, February 5, 2020, 3:44 p.m .: The Left Party in Frankfurt is planning a rally on Paulsplatz in Frankfurt for 7 p.m. This was announced by the city councilor of the party, Michael Müller, via Twitter. "Against another shift to the right in this country," he comments on his tweet.

Today 7pm, rally on Paulsplatz in Frankfurt. Against the rightward shift in this country. #Thuringia #fckafd

Update, February 5, 2020, 3:12 pm: The Greens criticized the election of the FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich as a “cultural break” and asked him to immediately resign. "We expect Thomas Kemmerich to resign immediately," said the joint statement by party leaders Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, as well as fraction leaders Katrin Göring-Eckardt and Anton Hofreiter.

"Thomas Kemmerich came into office with the help of an AfD led by a fascist in Thuringia," said Björn Höcke, head of the AfD in Thuringia. "This is a pact with right-wing extremists."

We expect @KemmerichThL to resign immediately. If he does not do this, the CDU and FDP must exclude the Thuringian state associations at federal level. Otherwise your words and incompatibility decisions are no longer worth a chanter. #Thuringia

Election debacle in Thuringia - FDP candidate wins with AfD votes

Update, 05.02.2020, 13.45 p.m .: The SPD in Thuringia precludes working with Prime Minister Kemmerich. It does not support a politician who was supported by the AfD.

The CDU also calls for a differentiation from the AfD. "We decided to support the middle class candidate," said CDU party and faction leader Mike Mohring. "It is crucial that Kemmerich makes it clear that there is no coalition with the AfD."

Update, 05.02.2020, 13:35: It is the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that a prime minister was elected to office with the votes of the Afd. According to an expert in the MDR, this is constitutionally correct to the extent that the AfD has not played with an open visor.

Thuringia provides a prime minister without a government team. It will be interesting to see who the government is.

Update, 05.02.2020, 13:32: The deputies in Erfurt have voted. Bodo Ramelow received 44 votes, Christoph Kindervater 0 votes and Thomas Kemmerich 45 votes. Abstentions: 1.

This is what has been assumed by many. The Afd has sent its candidate to the third ballot in order to finally lift the more promising candidate of the FDP into office.

Update, 05.02.2020.13.20 p.m .: The election is complete, the counting has started.

Update, February 5, 2020, 1:00 p.m .: The third ballot has started. Kemmerich had made his candidacy dependent on whether the AfD stayed with its candidate. This was to prevent being voted on with the AfD's votes.

Update, 05.02.2020, 12.45 p.m .: The third ballot begins. The question is whether the AfD will withdraw its candidate or whether the FDP will make its own candidate. In the second ballot, dissenters from other parties seem to have moved away from the child's father again.

FDP, AfD and the Left are candidates

Voting goes to: Bodo Ramelow (left), Christoph Kindervater (AfD) and Thomas Kemmerich (FDP). There is another pause because new ballots have to be printed.

With this variant, the constitutional problem is eliminated, since one of the three candidates has the most votes in favor. Only with one candidate would the option of a no vote be guaranteed.

It is speculated that the Afd could now support the FDP candidate and drop his own. That would make Kemmerich Prime Minister.

There is no hatch between liberalism and right-wing extremism (icon image) https://t.co/NMyebrTMsl

Update, 05.02.2020, 12.15 p.m .: The result of the second ballot: 44 votes for Bodo Ramelow, 22 for the father of children - 24 abstentions. Ramelow is thus missing two votes, even if he was able to win one. The child's father, on the other hand, has lost approval.

Update, 05.02.2020, 12.00 p.m .: The second ballot starts with both candidates - both Bodo Ramelow (left) and Christoph Kindervater (AfD).

Update, February 5, 2020, 11:25 a.m .: The votes have been counted. 43 deputies voted for Ramelow, so he lacks three votes for re-election. A member of the opposition voted for him.

AfD requests an interruption

AfD-Mann child father received 25 votes, which means that three non-AfD politicians voted for this candidate. 22 MPs abstained. Now it goes into the second ballot.

Or only in 30 minutes. The AfD has requested an interruption of the session for advice - without its candidate child father.

#MPWahl # Thüringen @ThuerLandtag: #AfD requests a session break after the first ballot in order to provide internal advice. She leaves her candidate #Children in the stands. He says: "There is a reason for that. All good. I'm just a guest. ”#Ltwth pic.twitter.com/RRKyfefiFB

Update, 05.02.2020.11.20 a.m .: The first ballot is running, there will be a secret vote. All MEPs are called by name. The MDR studio expert André Brodocz sees it as unlikely that Ramelow will be elected in the first ballot. Michael Brenner, constitutional lawyer, University of Jena explains the problem of the third ballot again. Representatives of different interpretations count either only the yes votes or only the no votes. The result is evaluated accordingly.

Thuringia - First ballot is over

Each vote is currently counted manually. A Thuringian model is discussed, which means a minority government without a supporting group. That would be unique in the republic because of the danger of political standstill.

First message:

Erfurt - On Wednesday, February 5th, 2020, a new prime minister will be elected in Thuringia . Incumbent Bodo Ramelow (left) wants to remain head of government, but with his targeted alliance he has no majority in parliament. Left, SPD and Greens only have 42 out of 90 seats.

Thuringia: AfD nominates candidates - Bodo Ramelow is not elected safely

Now the AfD has also nominated its own candidate with the non-party mayor from a 350-person community, Christoph Kindervater. Kindervater had brought himself into play and asked the three opposition parties in the Thuringian state parliament - CDU, FDP and AfD - to send him into the race as a candidate.

With 22 seats in the Erfurt state parliament , the AfD parliamentary group needs the help of the CDU and FDP to assert their candidates. However, it is also possible for the CDU or FDP to shortly create their own applicant.

Accordingly, it is by no means certain that Ramelow will be re-elected. To win the election in the first or second ballot, he needs an absolute majority - he needs four votes for that.

Prime Minister election in Thuringia: Three scenarios are conceivable

In the third ballot, a likely scenario, the left only needs the relative majority. But this is only legally controversial if the AfD candidate is still in the race.

Experts fear a constitutional crisis if Ramelow is available for election without opposing candidates and is elected with more no votes than yes votes. The case could end up in the Administrative Court.

Another scenario comes from the side of the FDP: FDP party and faction leader Thomas Kemmerich wants to run in the third ballot if only Ramelow and the AfD man have children to choose from. Assuming that the CDU has no candidate of its own, the votes of the Union should be assured. With the votes of the AfD, Kemmerich could actually become prime minister.

Election in Thuringia causes excitement

The election of the head of government in Thuringia caused excitement in advance. Politicians from the SPD, the Greens and the Left warned the CDU against voting for the AfD candidate. "If a candidate is elected with the votes of the AfD, there is no mistake - a fire protection wall is torn down," said Greens boss Robert Habeck of the Berlin "Tagesspiegel".

The Union also issued a warning. "The CDU must not be able to put the prime minister in with the AfD's votes," warned former Thuringian prime minister Bernhard Vogel in the "Rheinische Post".

The rules for the election of the Prime Minister in Thuringia

• In the first round of voting, the person who reaches an absolute majority in parliament is elected. In the current Thuringian state parliament, 46 votes are required.
• If none of the candidates manages the absolute majority in the first ballot, there is a second round. Again, an absolute majority is needed, i.e. 46 votes.
• If the candidates fail for the second time, the state constitution states: "If the election does not take place in the second ballot, then the electorate is chosen who receives the most votes in another ballot."
• According to the Thuringian state parliament, new candidates are also possible in the second and third ballots. But it is also conceivable that political groups withdraw their candidates. (with agency)

Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) is elected Prime Minister with the help of the AfD in Thuringia. The Höcke faction's game was transparent. The CDU played along. A comment.*

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

List of rubric lists: © Philipp von Ditfurth / dpa