Three parties have combined to retain the far-right victors in the eastern German state By Reuters
BERLIN (Reuters) – Three parties in the eastern German state of Thuringia joined forces on Thursday to block the Alternative that won Germany’s election from power, appointing a conservative state premier who led his party to second place behind the AfD. .
The AfD surprised Germany’s major parties in September when it became the first far-right party to win a regional election in Germany since the Second World War. But all other parties refuse to cooperate with the AfD, regionally and nationally.
Mario Voigt, 47, the leader of the Christian Democrats, won 51 votes out of 88 members of parliament, which means he received the support of seven members who are not in the alliance with the Social Democrats and who left the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance. (BSW).
“The country’s parliament has chosen Minister Mario Voigt as the president of the Free State of Thuringia,” said parliament president Thadeus Koenig to the legislators.
Voigt’s appointment comes 10 weeks before a national election in which the strength of the AfD – currently ranked second in opinion polls, behind the Conservatives – could greatly complicate efforts to form a coalition government to steer Germany, Europe’s largest economy, through the crisis. disaster.
In the Thuringian parliament, the three coalition parties together received only 44 votes, one shy of the majority Voigt needs to be elected in the first term.
The left-wing opposition party – the heirs of East Germany’s former Communist Party – agreed on Wednesday to lend Voigt some votes to regularly discuss the new coalition’s legislative agenda.
The consensus – made necessary by the power of the AfD – is an unfortunate victory for the centrist forces in the government.
Also, the BSW, with its stated opposition to arming Ukraine, is an uneasy ally of the conservatives and the Social Democrats, who at the national level are firmly committed to supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invaders.
