Thuringia: Most BSW Lawmakers Announce Party Exit but Plan to Stay in Government

Ten of the 12 remaining members of Thuringia’s BSW parliamentary group have announced that they will leave the party, while seeking to keep the state’s governing coalition in place. Those planning to depart include Finance Minister Katja Wolf, Environment Minister Tilo Kummer and Digital Minister Steffen Schütz.

Parliamentary group leader Sigrid Hupach said at a news conference that the group would initially remain together in the state legislature. The lawmakers plan to discuss further steps next week. “We will no longer remain caught up in internal party debates,” Hupach said.

The split follows a long-running power struggle between the BSW’s federal leadership, led by founder Sahra Wagenknecht, and the party organization in Thuringia. The federal leadership repeatedly urged the state branch to withdraw its support for Minister-President Mario Voigt of the Christian Democratic Union and leave the government. Most Thuringian lawmakers rejected that course.

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We will no longer remain caught up in internal party debates.

Wolf said a special party congress planned for Sunday had been canceled because it no longer had a purpose. “The special party congress had one task, which it no longer has. It was supposed to give the parliamentary group instructions on how to deal with Mario Voigt,” she said.

Three lawmakers, Stefan Wogawa, Dirk Hoffmeister and Roberto Kobelt, had already left the party and parliamentary group on Wednesday. They plan to form a parliamentary group with a new party called Deine Stimme zählt, or Your Voice Counts. The only two Thuringian BSW lawmakers who have not announced their departure are Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel, who are regarded as supporters of the federal party line.

The coalition lacked its own majority even before the departures. It held 44 of the state legislature’s 88 seats, matching the opposition from the Alternative for Germany and the Left Party. It generally secured majorities through compromises with the Left Party.

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The special party congress had one task, which it no longer has. It was supposed to give the parliamentary group instructions on how to deal with Mario Voigt.