Political earthquake in Germany: President of Thuringia elected thanks to AfD

Text by: RFI Follow

It is a political earthquake which shakes Germany: for the first time since the war, a head of a regional state, in this case in Thuringia in the east of the country, was elected Wednesday thanks to the votes of the 'far right. Merkel's party calls for new elections.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Berlin , Pascal Thibaut

An elected official from the small liberal party won a vote thanks to the support of the Christian Democrats and the Alternative for Germany, on the far right . He defeated the outgoing boss of the region who hoped to remain in power at the head of a minority government associating the left parties. This election gave rise to numerous condemnations and debates.

" A broken taboo ", " a broken dike ": these two expressions come up in many comments. The surprise election of a liberal whose party won 5% in the regional elections last October thanks to the support of the Christian Democrats and the far right caused a political earthquake in Germany.

Thomas Kemmerich defeated outgoing Minister President Bodo Ramelow in the third round, who hoped to remain head of Thuringia with a minority government including his Die Linke party, the Social Democrats and the Greens.

Convictions in the media and political circles abound. Protest demonstrations are organized in several cities of Thuringia but also in Berlin in front of the headquarters of the liberal party. Conservative officials spoke of a dark day for Germany, disassociated themselves from the CDU in Thuringia and demanded new elections. This applies to this party as well as to its Bavarian ally of the CSU.

The chairman of the liberal party Christian Lindner, on the other hand, welcomed the victory of his party colleague while rejecting any cooperation with the Alternative for Germany. A former FDP minister and moral authority of the party made a comparison with the Weimar Republic when the conservatives were supported or cooperated with the Nazis.

Liberal Thomas Kemmerich (L) is congratulated by the regional leader of the far-right party Björn Höcke. Jens Schlueter / AFP

" The handshake of shame "

The German press widely condemned this election. " The handshake of shame ": the front page of the popular daily Bild Zeitung shows the iconic photo of yesterday's crazy day in Thuringia. We see the new boss of the region, the liberal Thomas Kemmerich, being congratulated by the regional leader of the far-right party Björn Höcke. " Someone who puts the Holocaust into perspective, who by his body language, his behavior, his haircut, his thought and his rhetoric gives the impression of coming out of the news of the 1930s " comments Bild Zeitung .

The left-wing daily Tageszeitung uses the same photo and title " Elected by fascists ", stressing that the border between the democratic parties and the AfD no longer holds. " It should never have happened, " said the conservative Die Welt.

Der Spiegel magazine goes further and believes that the AfD has its first regional boss. " Never have the Conservatives, the Liberals and the far right succeeded in such a blow in post-war Germany " for the magazine. " A political taboo has been broken " notes the daily Tagesspiegel ; " A dyke broke, " adds Die Zeit magazine, which speaks of a historic day.

Merkel's party calls for new Thuringian elections

The conservative party of Angela Merkel called this Wednesday for new elections in the regional state of Thuringia since its local elected representatives mixed their voices with those of the extreme right to designate the future head of the regional government.

" The best for Thuringia would be new elections, " said party secretary general Paul Ziemiak. He spoke of " a dark day for Thuringia ", recalling that the Chancellor's party had as a principle to exclude any alliance or cooperation with that of the far right Alternative for Germany, both at national and regional level .

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Download the app

• Germany

On the same subject

Hello Europe

Germany: farmers and environmentalists challenge large retailers

Hello Europe

Turkish language education in Germany, a problematic deficit

Germany stops coal-fired electricity production by 2038