Germany's only blackberry coalition made up of the CDU, BSW and SPD in Thuringia is faltering. 13 of 15 BSW state parliament members turned their backs on the party this week in a constant quarrel with the federal executive board and party founder Sahra Wagenknecht. On Friday alone, nine politicians announced their departure. The Thuringian government of Prime Minister Mario Voigt (CDU) has to reorganize itself in the crisis.
The ongoing Wagenknecht-Wolf dispute escalates
“We are not elected for endless self-employment, we are not elected for constant defensive struggles, and we are not elected for enduring flirtations with right-wing radicals,” said Thuringia's deputy prime minister and former BSW state leader Katja Wolf, explaining the party's departures. It is painful, but there can no longer be a common path in the BSW.
Party founder Wagenknecht accused the Thuringians of choosing the timing of the escalation “in order to do maximum damage to the party to which they owe their mandates and ministerial positions before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt.” “Now everything is obviously being done to prevent the only consistent peace party from entering the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.” Wolf and the majority of the Thuringian parliamentary group would rather play in the CDU team, Wagenknecht told the German Press Agency. The reason for the rift is a dispute over government participation in Thuringia, which Wagenknecht considers to be a big mistake.
A large part of the disintegrating Thuringian BSW faction wants to continue to support Voigt's government in the future. “We continue to stand by the coalition,” said the previous BSW parliamentary group leader Sigrid Hupach in Erfurt. “We need stability for Thuringia, we have a political responsibility,” said Wolf, who has been in dispute with Wagenknecht since the BSW began participating in the Thuringian government at the end of 2024.
Prime Minister Voigt referred to a relationship of trust that has grown over the past two years. “We have a common understanding of our government mandate.”
Goodbye stalemate - the search for a majority is getting tricky
Hupach explained that the parliamentary group initially continues to have twelve members, ten of whom no longer belong to the BSW. Further decisions will be made at a group meeting next week. One of the MPs brought up a possible dissolution and re-establishment of the parliamentary group. Hupach only spoke of various possibilities that now remained.
After the BSW federal executive board and Wagenknecht's demand to leave the coalition in Thuringia, there had already been talk of leaving the party and possible founding of a new parliamentary group in secret in recent weeks.
The disintegration of the BSW could make finding a majority in the state parliament even more difficult. So far, Voigt's alliance had 44 of 88 seats in parliament - and thus a stalemate with the opposition from the Left and AfD. The majority of the coalition was usually organized with the help of the left. Theoretically, the coalition could not be outvoted by the opposition.
That's changing now. Three of the previous BSW MPs announced their resignation from the party and parliamentary group in the middle of the week. They want to set up their own parliamentary group. In addition, two other MPs are considered to be supporters of the course of the federal leadership of the BSW around party founder Sahra Wagenknecht. Of the once 15 MPs, ten remain who are considered supporters of Katja Wolf's course.
The Left sees the coalition collapsed - and wants to talk
Prime Minister Voigt tried to exude confidence during a joint appearance with his deputies Katja Wolf and Georg Maier (SPD): “Together we stand reliably for a policy. The people in the state don't have to worry, we take care of the issues that affect their lives, and together we are also personally committed to ensuring that Thuringia moves forward and that we tackle the things that need to be solved in the Free State together," said the CDU politician.
However, the left, on which the previous blackberry coalition in the state parliament depended, signaled the need for discussion. “As of today, in our view, the government coalition has collapsed,” said parliamentary group leader Christian Schaft. He spoke of a political crisis. A coalition partner, the BSW, has said goodbye. The coalition agreement was concluded between parties and not between individuals. “We can’t just go back to business as usual.” The left is not a majority getter. “We will now have to go into very fundamental discussions.”
SPD cautious - state leader wants to ask committees
SPD state leader Maier also put the brakes on Voigt's confident story: “Of course” the situation that has now arisen must first be discussed in the party's committees. “I can’t anticipate that now,” he said. The SPD negotiated a lot of issues into the government contract and these continue to be important. When asked whether there should be another member survey, Maier left it open. This also has to be decided in the committees.
At the beginning of the week it became known that BSW MP Matthias Herzog was leaving the party but remaining in the parliamentary group. On Wednesday, three more MPs announced that they were leaving the party - they also left the parliamentary group and announced that they wanted to form their own parliamentary group. On Friday, nine more MPs followed suit and wanted to resign from the BSW. Only two MPs now represent the Wagenknecht camp. How they will behave in the parliamentary group meeting next week initially remained unclear.
