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GERMANY-POLITICS
Merkel’s party in crucible as Thuringia votes again
BERLIN, March 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Lawmakers in eastern German state
Thuringia will try again to elect a new state premier Wednesday, re-running a
vote that sank Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU party into what has been
described as the biggest crisis in its history.
It is the second attempt in a month to form a working government in the
former East German state, after CDU MPs there unleashed an earthquake in
national politics by voting with the far-right AfD in February.
Amid the national outrage, the liberal candidate elected during the first
vote on February 5 stepped down, leaving the state rudderless.
But more significantly, the apparent cooperation of CDU politicians with
the far-right triggered the departure of Merkel’s designated successor
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and sparked a new leadership contest for the
German chancellor’s party.
The race to a new CDU leadership election on April 25 is a fresh struggle
for control between supporters of the chancellor’s centrist course and those
who believe the party must tack right.
But so far none has offered a convincing answer to the CDU’s conundrum in
Thuringia, squeezed between the extremes of left and right.
Former state premier Bodo Ramelow of the far left is now up against far-
right firebrand Bjoern Hoecke, with Merkel’s conservatives once again the
reluctant kingmakers.
– New force on the right –
A fundamental article of faith for the CDU during its decades of dominance
of German politics since 1949 was that no political force could be allowed to
emerge to its right.
It long provided a home for hardliners on issues like immigration,
integration and refugees.
But Merkel has shifted the party to closer to the centre.
The repeated rescue programmes for Greece during the eurozone crisis and
above all, Merkel’s decision to allow in more than one million migrants and
refugees since 2015 stoked the rise of the AfD.
The far right is especially strong in Germany’s former communist east,
which did not go through the same process of facing up to its Nazi past as
the democratic west.
Double-digit scores for AfD in state elections in recent years have made it
increasingly tough to build working coalitions that shut out both far right
and the radical-left Left party.
With the party leadership — and likely the candidacy for the
chancellorship in 2021 — now up for grabs, those tensions are boiling to the
surface.
Some contenders such as long-time Merkel rival Friedrich Merz are
advocating a return to the party’s conservative roots and winning back voters
lost to AfD.
Meanwhile moderates argue the party cannot hope to hang on to masses of
centrist supporters if it abandons Merkel’s course.
– Impossible choice –
With no majority possible in Thuringia without either AfD or the Left, the
state has become a unique crucible for the CDU’s repeated declarations that
it would work with neither.
Earlier this month, its MPs voted with AfD to install Thomas Kemmerich from
the liberal FDP as state premier, ousting popular Left premier Ramelow.
Faced with national outrage at the unprecedented alliance, the Thuringian
CDU branch immediately backed down and its leader quit, but it remains
confronted with an impossible choice.
“CDU votes for a Left party candidate are unacceptable,” moderate party
leadership contender Armin Laschet said Sunday, echoing conservative rivals
like Merz.
Tilman Kuban, leader of the party’s national youth wing, even suggested
Monday that MPs “leave the chamber” during the state premier vote to avoid
the impression they had cooperated with AfD or the Left.
If Ramelow — whose previous broad left coalition is four votes short of a
majority — fails to secure a mandate as state premier, the result will
likely be more months with no regional government in Thuringia until fresh
elections.
Meanwhile there is little chance of AfD contender Hoecke winning.
One of the most radical voices within AfD, the former history teacher’s
rhetoric includes calls for “tempered inhumanity” in removing non-ethnic
Germans from the country.
Such declarations have placed him beyond the pale even for the more
hardline eastern CDU branches.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0819 hrs