2019 Thuringian state election
The 2019 Thuringian state election was held on 27 October 2019 to elect the members of the 7th Landtag of Thuringia. The incumbent government was a coalition consisting of The Left, the Social Democratic Party, and The Greens, led by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow. The Left became the largest party for the first time in any German state, but the election resulted in a hung parliament as the governing coalition fell 4 seats short of an overall majority. As The Left and the far-right Alternative for Germany together hold a negative majority, no politically realistic majority government exists.
On 5 February 2020, the Landtag voted to elect the Minister-President. Ramelow was expected to be re-elected to lead a minority government, since the Christian Democratic Union declined to run a candidate, and neither the AfD's candidate nor the Free Democratic Party leader Thomas Kemmerich were expected to garner enough votes to win. However, on the third ballot, Kemmerich was unexpectedly elected, winning 45 votes to incumbent Ramelow's 44. The votes for Kemmerich came from the FDP, CDU and, controversially, the AfD. This was the first time the AfD had been involved in the election of a head of government in Germany. This was highly controversial, sparking protest throughout both Thuringia and Germany and condemnation from politicians nationwide, including federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, who described it as "unforgivable".
Under intense pressure, Kemmerich announced his resignation just two days later, but remained in office in a caretaker capacity until the Landtag could elect another Minister-President. On 4 March, a second vote was held, and Bodo Ramelow was re-elected as Minister-President with the abstentions of the CDU and FDP.
Election date
According to § 18 of the Thuringian Electoral Law for the Landtag, the Landtag election must take place on a Sunday or public holiday at the earliest 57 months after the beginning of the current parliamentary term on 14 October 2014 and at the latest 61 months after, i.e. at the earliest 21 July 2019 and at the latest 10 November 2019. On 28 August 2018, the Thuringian Land government announced that the election was to take place on 27 October 2019.Opinion polls
Graphical summary
Party polling
Election result
Summary of the 27 October 2019 election results for the Landtag of Thuringia! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Party
! colspan=4| Constituency
! colspan=4| Party list
! rowspan=2| Total
seats
! rowspan=2| +/-
! rowspan=2| Seats %
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! colspan=13|
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 1,100,040
! 98.0
!
!
! 1,108,388
! 98.8
!
!
!
!
!
! colspan=2| Blank and invalid votes
! 21,774
! 2.0
!
!
! 13,426
! 1.2
!
!
!
!
!
! colspan=2| Total
! 1,121,814
! 100.0
!
! 44
! 1,121,814
! 100.0
!
! 46
! 90
! 1
!
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 1,729,242
! 64.9
! 12.2
!
! 1,729,242
! 64.9
! 12.2
!
!
!
!
Government formation
The red-red-green coalition of The Left, the SPD, and The Greens which previously governed the state lost their majority in the legislature, and are a total of four seats short. The CDU ruled out cooperation with the Left, and all parties ruled out any cooperation with AfD.An open letter published on 5 November, signed by 17 state CDU members, caused controversy. The letter urged the CDU to hold discussions with "all democratically elected parties" in the Landtag before ruling out any coalition partnerships, and was criticized by members of the national CDU and other parties, who interpreted it as a veiled call to work with AfD. Earlier in the week, deputy state party leader Michael Heym also publicly suggested exploring the possibility of a CDU–AfD–FDP coalition.
The result provided for two possible majority governments not including AfD: a Left–CDU coalition, or a Left–SPD–Green–FDP coalition. The former would be ideologically unwieldy but command a stable majority, while the latter had only been tried on local level, and would only hold a slim majority of two seats. Both were considered infeasible due to ideological differences and pledges made by both the CDU and FDP not to work with The Left. Minister-President Ramelow invited CDU leader Mohring to formal exploratory talks during the week of 4 November, but withdrew the invitation on 9 November, claiming Mohring had violated discretion by publicly displaying text messages between them. At the same time, CDU state leader :de:Raymond Walk|Raymond Walk reiterated his party's rejection of any partnership with the Left.
Election of Kemmerich
After the breakdown of coalition talks, Ramelow announced his intention to continue leading a red-red-green minority government. At the opening of parliament on 5 February 2020, Ramelow stood for election as Minister-President, while the AfD nominated independent local mayor :de:Christoph Kindervater|Christoph Kindervater. The election process involves two ballots in which a candidate requires an absolute majority to be elected, after which a third and final ballot requires only a plurality. FDP leader Thomas Kemmerich announced he would also stand on this third ballot if one were held. Ramelow received 43 votes on the first ballot and 44 on the second, short of a majority. Kindervater received 25 votes on the first ballot and 22 on the second. The FDP and CDU abstained from both the first and second ballots. Kemmerich entered the contest on the third ballot. He received the support of the CDU, FDP, and AfD, being elected with 45 votes, while Ramelow received 44.This was highly unexpected, as neither the CDU or AfD had publicly expressed any intention to support Kemmerich. The CDU was expected to abstain on the third ballot as it did on the first two. The AfD did not withdraw their candidate Kindervater on the third ballot; he stood, but received no votes.
This marked the first time a state head of government had been elected with the support of the AfD. The leftist parties as well as some within the federal FDP sharply criticized the CDU for breaking the cordon sanitaire surrounding the AfD. Previously, there had been a general agreement among all other parties that the AfD should be denied any influence in government, and should not be negotiated nor worked with on any level. The apparent cooperation between the three parties in Thuringia was viewed as having broken this agreement. CDU leader Mohring stated that his party supported Kemmerich as a centrist compromise candidate, reiterated that they would not work with AfD, and called on Kemmerich to make clear the AfD would not be invited into any governing coalition, though this would also leave Kemmerich with no workable bloc with which to govern. The Left and Greens immediately ruled out working with Kemmerich, and called for new elections.
Outgoing Minister-President Ramelow drew parallels between AfD's role in Kemmerich's election and the rise of the Nazi Party. Protests were held in several German cities after the election, including in the Thuringian capital of Erfurt, where 1,000 protestors demonstrated outside the Landtag as Kemmerich delivered his acceptance speech. Federal SPD leaders Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken stated they would withdraw their party from the federal CDU–SPD government if Kemmerich did not resign immediately.
Federal CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer criticized the state CDU for " against the wishes" of the federal party, and raised the possibility of new elections as the "cleanest" way to break the deadlock. In a later statement on Twitter, she asked state CDU legislators to abstain from participating in a Kemmerich cabinet and directly called for new elections. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a state visit to South Africa when the vote took place, condemned it in a statement: "It was a bad day for democracy, a day that broke with the long and proud tradition of the CDU's values. This is in no way in line with what the CDU thinks, how we have acted throughout our party's existence." Christian Hirte, federal commissioner for the new states of Germany, was dismissed from cabinet after tweeting his congratulations to Kemmerich after the election.
A letter sent to Kemmerich by AfD leader Björn Höcke shortly after the 2019 election led to speculation that AfD's support for Kemmerich was planned and coordinated. In the letter, Höcke offered AfD support for either a non-partisan technocratic government or an FDP minority government. Despite this, Kemmerich and his party denied having any knowledge of AfD's intentions.
On 8 February, Kemmerich announced his resignation and stated his support for new elections. According to state law, a motion to dissolve parliament and call snap elections would require a one-third majority to come to the floor and a two-thirds majority to pass; a vote of confidence on the Minister-President would require 46 votes to pass or result in a new Minister-President election upon failure. Despite his resignation, Kemmerich remained in office in a caretaker capacity until the Landtag could hold a new election for Minister-President.
Election of Ramelow
Following discussions, The Left, CDU, SPD, and Greens announced on 21 February 2020 that they had reached an agreement to hold a new election for Minister-President on 4 March 2020, and a new state election on 25 April 2021. The four parties stated they would support Bodo Ramelow for Minister-President, and that he will lead an interim government for the next 13 months until the election is held. This government will comprise the same red-red-green arrangement which governed Thuringia from 2014 to February 2020, but will not seek to pass a budget before the election. Between them, the four parties hold 63 of the 90 seats in the Landtag, more than the two-thirds required to dissolve the Landtag and trigger an early election.On 4 March, a second vote was held, and Ramelow was elected Minister-President on the third ballot.