Crisis in Thuringia: Ten more BSW MPs want to leave the party

The crisis in the Thuringian Blackberry Coalition has reached a new level of escalation: ten more BSW MPs want to leave the party. According to information from the dpa news agency, all three BSW ministers are also included - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Katja Wolf, Digital Minister Steffen Schütz and Environment Minister Tilo Kummer. The BSW state chairman alongside Wolf, Gernot Süßmuth, also resigned from his position. After three MPs left in the middle of the week, the parliamentary group still had twelve members.

Initially, according to dpa information, it was said that the MPs wanted to leave the parliamentary group and the party. In the press conference, parliamentary group leader Sigrid Hupach later explained that the BSW parliamentary group would initially continue to exist with twelve members, as the MDR also reported. “We continue to stand by the coalition,” said Hupach. The next steps will be discussed in the coming days. Thuringia's Prime Minister Mario Voigt (CDU) also later stated that the coalition would remain in place and that he wanted to continue to govern. He spoke of a “day of clarity”.

Wolf: “We are not elected for constant defensive battles”

The parliamentary group and party leadership spoke in the state parliament in Erfurt this morning. Katja Wolf admitted that the step was not easy for her. However, the federal party has moved away from the founding consensus. "The last few days have made it clear that there can no longer be a common path." They wanted to consistently focus on Thuringia. "We are not elected for constant defensive battles." They are also not elected for "flirting with right-wing radicals."

The MPs Stefan Wogawa, Roberto Kobelt and Dirk Hoffmeister resigned from the party and parliamentary group on Wednesday. The three ex-BSW politicians want to form a parliamentary group with a specially founded party “Your vote counts”.

Open dispute with federal party

The resignations intensified the open dispute between the BSW in Thuringia and the federal party. Wagenknecht had announced that the BSW would not prevent the AfD's top candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, from becoming prime minister in the third round of voting by abstaining. BSW state director Wolf positioned herself against such a scenario. »I warn that my party is carelessly helping an AfD gain power. There can be no fraternization for the BSW with the AfD,” said Wolf.

The BSW is part of the government coalition of the CDU, BSW and SPD in the Free State. The alliance has not yet had its own majority in the state parliament - there was a stalemate of 44 of 88 seats with the opposition from the AfD and the Left. The majority of the coalition was usually organized through compromises with the Left faction.