New elections in Thuringia: Why Bodo Ramelow is going into extension

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In Thuringia, there are signs that the state elections planned for April will be postponed.

The state and parliamentary group chairmen of the Left, CDU, SPD and Greens discussed on Thursday afternoon in Erfurt, but a decision on a new election date can only be expected in the next few days, according to CDU circles.

There is still a need for discussion in the Union parliamentary group on the subject.

Several alternative dates were discussed at the meeting.

The CDU and the Greens are leaning towards September 26, the day of the federal election.

The SPD brought up July 18.

However, it already seems clear that the date of April 25, which the four parties agreed on last March after the political crisis and the re-election of Bodo Ramelow (Left) as Prime Minister, will no longer be able to be kept.

"We have 30,000 election workers who we have to protect," Ramelow said last weekend on ZDF.

All those involved would now have to think about whether an election was responsible if there was no all-clear for the corona numbers in January and February.

"Then we will have to have a say in that too." In contrast to Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, which have to hold state elections on March 14, the state parliament in Erfurt can freely decide on the date for a new election.

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Ramelow, who recently spoke out in favor of a total lockdown, including the closure of industrial companies, is not alone in rejecting new elections in April.

Greens, AfD and FDP had also repeatedly expressed skepticism in the past few weeks and months.

Because the ballot alone would not be enough.

Thuringia currently has the highest incidence with 324

Thuringia has overtaken Saxony and is now a super hotspot in Germany.

Nationwide, 10,000 soldiers of the Bundeswehr are to provide support in nursing homes.

And it is becoming more and more apparent: The lockdown could extend again.

Source: WELT / Isabell Finzel

Before a state election at the end of April, the Thuringian parties would have to hold party conferences in February and March to draw up their election lists.

However, this is not possible digitally under the current legal situation.

Similar party congresses with sometimes several hundred participants and delegates would not be possible at the moment in view of the hygiene requirements and contact restrictions.

However, postponing the April date raises a number of political questions.

The coalition parties of Ramelow's red-red-green minority government and the CDU signed a “stability pact” last spring.

In parliament - and especially in many informal and official negotiation rounds - the Red-Red-Green and the Union repeatedly reached political agreements over the past year.

In December, for example, a joint budget for 2021 was drawn up with the votes of the CDU, the Left, the Greens and the SPD.

The postponement is also about political interests

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The aim of this procedure, which is unique in the Federal Republic, was not to let the AfD get back on track in the Thuringian state parliament.

With the votes of the CDU, FDP and AfD, FDP parliamentary group and state leader Thomas Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister in February.

He resigned shortly afterwards and went down in German history as the head of government with the shortest term of office.

At the beginning of March, Ramelow was reinstated as Prime Minister in the third ballot.

But of course the postponement of the election is not just about the pandemic - it is also about solid political interests.

An election date in April, apart from the federal election campaign, would rather play into the hands of Ramelow's leftist, because politically one could concentrate entirely on Thuringia.

She currently leads the polls with 33 percent.

Simultaneous state and federal elections are more likely to be rejected by the left - but the CDU parliamentary group wants to insist on this, according to WELT information.

Because for the CDU, which was last traded at 22 percent in Thuringian surveys, a joint choice of state and federal government would be much more pleasant in its own opinion, because one could sail along in the favorable federal trend.

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A postponement to September 26 should also make it easier for the Thuringian Greens, who had only passed the five percent hurdle in the previous state election at the end of October 2019.

For a long time, they have feared getting under the wheels of an election in April and an inevitable polarization between Ramelow and AfD boss Björn Höcke.

For the Thuringian Greens, who have their strongholds mainly in cities like Erfurt, Weimar and Jena, September 26th would be far less fearful.

Kemmerich's FDP will also breathe a sigh of relief, which could at least extend its remaining term in the Erfurt parliament by postponing the date.

In the polls, the Thuringian Liberals came in at five percent, in the last state election they were above this hurdle with just 73 votes.

For the next state election, however, the FDP will face double competition with free voters and a new party, the “Citizens for Thuringia”.

Their return is at least seriously endangered.

It is currently completely open how the left, the SPD and the Greens would get in touch with one another if the legislative period were to be extended.

In the past few weeks and months, the minority government has rattled a lot, the mood was "partly subterranean," reported the frustrated coalition.

"I'm talking about a tough time that will be with us for 12 weeks"

Thuringia is currently a nationwide Corona hotspot.

In an interview with WELT, Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow explains the seriousness of the situation in his state. He has great hopes for the vaccinations, but does not believe that the 50s incidence will be reached soon.

Source: WORLD / Daniel Koop

The focus of criticism from the green and social democratic side is always Ramelow, who is scourged for alleged "going it alone".

Most recently, the Greens and the SPD had thwarted their Prime Minister when they called for the Thuringians to move within 15 kilometers, as in Saxony.

The regulation became a recommendation, the number of infections continues to rise.

The “Stability Pact” for Thuringia between the government and the CDU opposition officially expired with the adoption of the budget.

Will it be extended now?

In the event of an election on September 26th, the parties would at least have to tighten the cornerstones of a budget, and a reform of the local finances is also pending in the Free State.

It therefore looks as if the pandemic will also extend the “historic compromise” that the CDU and the Left have made.

In this context, it is only a linguistic detail whether the “Stability Pact” will continue to be called the same as before or whether it will be renamed.