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Thomas Kemmerich (archive): 66.7 percent of the party congress votes for his re-election
Photo:
Martin Schutt / picture alliance / dpa
The Thuringian FDP has re-elected Thomas Kemmerich as its state chairman.
The 56-year-old received 66.7 percent of the vote at a state party conference in Erfurt on Saturday.
He prevailed in a fight vote with 76 to 33 votes against a challenger.
In February of last year, Kemmerich caused a scandal when he was surprisingly elected Prime Minister in the Erfurt state parliament.
For the first time in Germany, AfD votes were decisive.
This thwarted the re-election of Bodo Ramelow (left) as head of government.
The election of Kemmerich triggered a wave of indignation nationwide and plunged Thuringia into a deep government crisis.
The FDP politician resigned a few days later.
He ran the business without a government until March.
Ramelow was finally confirmed in his office as prime minister.
Since then he has led a red-red-green minority government that depends on the support of the CDU.
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Kemmerich has been chairman of the FDP in Thuringia since 2015. Born in Aachen, he has also been the parliamentary group leader in the state parliament since 2019.
Kemmerich's opponent, Weimar district chairman Hagen Hultzsch, received 29 percent of the vote.
Hultzsch had justified his candidacy with the fact that he wanted to offer the delegates a personal alternative.
Individual delegates criticized Kemmerich's behavior in the past year.
Not only did he damage his reputation, said a delegate from East Thuringia.
Fok / AFP / dpa
