After the controversial election of the Thuringian prime minister, FDP leader Christian Lindner is criticized. He wants the confidence of his party to be confirmed.
- In Thuringia , Thomas Kemmerich ( FDP ) was elected Prime Minister against the other party line with AfD votes.
- After 25 hours in office, he announced his resignation after massive protests.
- FDP leader Christian Lindner has called a special session of his party. He wants to ask the question of trust.
- Lindner had been criticized for not immediately distancing himself from the process after Kemmerich's election.
- Kemmerich himself stated that he was always in contact with Lindner.
Update of February 7, 8:17 a.m .: FDP leader Christian Lindner asked today about the events in the election of the prime minister in Thuringia the question of trust at a special meeting of the party executive. An official statement by the FDP chief is then scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Leading politicians from his party have already assured him of their support in advance. "He has my trust," said the FDP vice-group leader in the Bundestag, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff in the ARD morning magazine. The FDP vice chair Katja Suding made similar comments. She said on the Bavarian radio that she assumes that "the federal executive Christian Lindner will express the trust today".
After the Thuringian election: FDP politicians support and praise Lindner
Both emphasized that Lindner could have persuaded the FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich * in Thuringia to resign from the post of prime minister. "He has achieved what the critics of the Thuringian events have asked for," said Suding on the radio program Morning.
Lambsdorff said that the events in Thuringia, where Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister on Wednesday with the votes of the AfD, had "surprised and also a little dumbfounded" within the FDP . He was therefore “very happy” that Lindner had managed to convince Kemmerich to resign. "I think the damage will then be repaired, and I hope it doesn't stay too long." The events in Thuringia have generated strong reactions in German and international media as well as at the federal level *.
Lindner After Thuringia election: FDP Vice Lambsdorff emphasizes the autonomy of the state associations
At the same time, Lamdsdorff pointed out that the regional associations were "autonomous". A political party is "not like a company where there is a boss upstairs who tells the department heads that this and that has to happen, and if it doesn't, they are kicked out," said Lambsdorff. "That's not how it works."
What happened in Thuringia * was a "decision of the Thuringian state association". "What a mistake - the mistake is now being turned back."
Update of February 6, 3:29 pm: FDP leader Christian Lindner wants to ask the party leadership after the events in the election of the Thuringian Prime Minister. To this end, the Federal Executive Board should meet for a special meeting on Friday, Lindner announced on Thursday in Erfurt.
After Thuringia election: That's why FDP boss Lindner asks the question of trust
“After today's decisions here in Erfurt, it is possible for me to continue as chairman. But I want to make sure that our management body is legitimized, ”said Lindner . The FDP chief traveled to Erfurt on Thursday for crisis talks. Subsequently, the newly elected FDP Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich * announced that he would make his office available. The FDP faction wants to apply for the dissolution of the state parliament in order to bring about a new election.
Lindner called this the "only right decision". "Any kind of cooperation or dependency with the AfD must not exist for a democratic party in Germany." Lindner asked the CDU to join the initiative for a new election. “We as Free Democrats have clarified the situation. We now expect the same from the Union and its Federal President Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer . "
In the "ARD morning magazine" Kemmerich had indicated that Lindner was always informed about the events: "I was in constant contact with Christian Lindner. We also discussed what we had decided here in Thuringia. He said the decision was ultimately made the Thuringian Association. "
Lindner after Thuringia election - FDP man Kemmerich: "resignation inevitable"
Update of February 6, 2:37 p.m .: Just 25 hours after his election *, the new Thuringian Prime Minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP), who succeeded Bodo Ramelow * on Wednesday, announced his resignation. "The resignation is inevitable," said Kemmerich on Thursday after a crisis talk with FDP leader Christian Lindner in Erfurt. He resigned in order to "remove the taint of AfD support from the Prime Minister's office".
The circumstances of his choice left no other option, because the AfD had "tried with a perfidious trick to damage democracy". Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister of Thuringia on Wednesday with votes from the CDU and AfD. Thereupon there were immediate demands for resignation and new elections, also in Kemmerich's own party.
Linder had gone to Erfurt in the morning to persuade Kemmerich to resign. Nobody forced him to resign, Kemmerich said after the interview.
Update of February 6, 2:00 p.m .: Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken after the election of Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) as the new Prime Minister. In drastic words, she goes to the press in South Africa. She also reacted to the attitude of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Markus Söder.
FDP chief Lindner poses a question of trust after Thuringia election
News of February 5, 9:31 pm: The election of the FDP head of state Thomas Kemmerich as the new Thuringian prime minister with the support of the CDU and AfD has triggered a political earthquake. The presidium of the federal CDU unanimously recommend new elections, announced party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Wednesday evening . The SPD, the Left Party and the Greens criticized it as a historical breach of taboo that a prime minister had come into office for the first time with the help of a right-wing party.
Kramp-Karrenbauer accused her party colleagues in Thuringia of violating the party's decisions in the election. They see "no stable basis for the now elected prime minister". It is now up to Kemmerich to decide whether he "wants to remain Prime Minister of Höcke's mercy or not," said the CDU leader, looking at the far right Thuringian head of the AfD, Björn Höcke.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Rubric list picture: © AFP / JENS SCHLUETER
