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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

Thuringia BSW collapse: Former members plan to dissolve faction and govern under a new banner

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency New plan
  • Former BSW lawmakers in Thuringia plan to dissolve the party’s parliamentary faction and form a new faction linked to the recently created Thüringen.Gerecht party.
  • The move aims to preserve the state coalition led by CDU Minister-President Mario Voigt, although it would reduce its expected support from 44 seats to 39.
  • Critics accuse the lawmakers of protecting ministerial posts and faction funding, while two remaining BSW lawmakers question the coalition’s legal and political basis.

The BSW faction in Thuringia’s state parliament is set to be dissolved and rebuilt under a new political label, as former members of Sahra Wagenknecht’s party try to keep the state government functioning.

Representatives of the group around Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Katja Wolf said the existing faction would be dissolved on Wednesday and a liquidator appointed. The new faction would be supported by Thüringen.Gerecht, a new party that the former BSW state chair and allies founded unexpectedly and quickly on Sunday.

We are ensuring reliability and stability.

· Katja WolfWolf defended the planned dissolution of the BSW faction and the creation of a new faction to support the Thuringian coalition.

Wolf said the plan was intended to prevent the uncertainty and confusion seen after the state election in Saxony-Anhalt. “We are ensuring reliability and stability,” she said. The new party and faction are expected to continue supporting CDU Minister-President Mario Voigt’s coalition with the CDU and SPD.

They entered the Thuringian state parliament and state government on the BSW ticket, not on the basis of a small party or makeshift faction founded afterward.

· Anke Wirsing and Sven KüntzelThe two remaining BSW lawmakers criticized former colleagues who left the party and established a new political vehicle.

The coalition will nevertheless have fewer votes than before, with its backing expected to fall from 44 to 39. The Left, which was already needed for majorities, will gain influence. The new faction is expected to have 10 members, compared with the former BSW faction’s original 15. Three lawmakers recently left and plan to operate separately in a parliamentary group.

The two BSW lawmakers who remain with Wagenknecht’s party, Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel, intend to continue without a faction. They accused Wolf and her colleagues of trading positions and challenged the legitimacy of the three ministers who left the BSW. “They entered the Thuringian state parliament and state government on the BSW ticket, not on the basis of a small party or makeshift faction founded afterward,” they said. AfD parliamentary manager Wiebke Muhsal also questioned the legality of the new faction, calling the process a series of political reconfigurations designed to protect mandates, faction funds and ministerial positions. Wolf rejected the criticism, saying, “It was not we who moved away from the party, but the party that moved away from us.”

It was not we who moved away from the party, but the party that moved away from us.

· Katja WolfWolf defended the lawmakers’ decision to remain in government after leaving the BSW.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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