Thuringia: Landtag is not dissolved – election is canceled

Because of dissenters, there is no secure majority: Greens and leftists in Thuringia withdraw their signatures on an application to dissolve the state parliament. The state election planned for September 26th cannot take place.

The dissolution of the Thuringian state parliament planned for next Monday will not take place – and thus the state elections planned for September 26th will also be canceled.

Red-Red-Green and the CDU do not achieve a secure two-thirds majority for the dissolution of the state parliament. As the parliamentary groups of the Left and the Greens announced, they are withdrawing their signatures on the motion to dissolve parliament. This means that the application is no longer valid because the number of 30 signatures is no longer reached.

Four objectors in the ranks of the CDU and two on the left

A two-thirds majority is necessary for the dissolution of the state parliament. CDU, Left, SPD and Greens together have 63 out of 90 votes – but because of four refusals in the ranks of the CDU and two in the left, the necessary number of votes is currently not achieved, it said. In addition, a member of parliament with a fall injury was in the hospital – she could not have come to the vote on Monday.

Above all, the Greens, but also parts of the left, had expressed great concerns in recent days about going into such an important vote without a secure majority – and possibly making themselves dependent on AfD votes.

AfD votes should not be decisive

After the debacle in the election of short-term prime minister Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) last year, there should be no risk that AfD votes could make the difference even in an early election of parliament, said the faction leaders.

Thuringia’s red-red-green minority coalition headed by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) is missing four votes for its own majority in the state parliament, so it has so far been dependent on the support of the CDU for decisions in parliament. To this end, a temporary stability pact was concluded in March 2020, which has expired.