Bodo Ramelow is faced with a vote of no confidence.
His opponent Björn Höcke is considered to have no chance.
Still, Ramelow's minority government faces a major problem.
Erfurt - Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) has to face a constructive vote of no confidence in the state parliament today.
The application for this was brought in by the AfD parliamentary group, which, with its chairman Björn Höcke, is sending an opposing candidate into the race.
Höcke's candidacy is considered hopeless because all the other groups in parliament have announced that they will not be voting for him.
In order to bring Ramelow down as head of government, Höcke, who is also the AfD chairman in Thuringia, would have to unite an absolute majority in parliament - that is, achieve 46 votes. His own parliamentary group only has 22 seats.
The announced voting behavior of the CDU parliamentary group had previously caused controversy. She does not want to take part in the vote - the MPs want to stay in their seats. CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt justified this step by stating that the CDU did not participate in the “tricks” and “games” of the AfD. "The most visible sign that the CDU parliamentary group can set is that the CDU parliamentary group does not participate in this farce that the AfD parliamentary group is initiating," said Voigt. Representatives of other parliamentary groups expressed incomprehension that the CDU MPs do not want to vote no for a candidate like Höcke.
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the Thuringian AfD as proven extremist.
Höcke is considered to be the co-founder of the "wing" of the AfD, which has now been formally dissolved and classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist.
There were also differing positions on the state party from the ranks of the CDU.
For example, the former CDU member of the Bundestag Ruprecht Polenz tweeted: "If the AfD brings in a" constructive "vote of no confidence in the Thuringian state parliament and proposes Mr. Höcke as prime minister, there is only one possibility for the CDU to behave correctly: it has to say" No. " " voices."
The Thuringian FDP parliamentary group announced that it did not want to vote for Höcke - and would vote no.
In their justification for why they requested a constructive vote of no confidence, the AfD parliamentary group also referred to the failed state parliament dissolution, which should have triggered a new election in the fall.
The Left, SPD, Greens and the CDU had agreed to dissolve parliament, but were unable to secure the necessary two-thirds majority and therefore canceled the vote.
This means that Thuringia is again facing a possible parliamentary crisis.
Because Ramelow's red-red-green minority government does not have a majority in the state parliament - it lacks four votes.
And the CDU parliamentary group, which contributed votes for important projects for about a year and a half, rejected a renewed collaboration.
dpa