The former prime minister’s proposal has it all: CDU politician Christine Lieberknecht is to lead a transitional government in Thuringia until the next elections. Ramelow’s daring plan doesn’t seem to work.
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You know each other, you understand each other: Bodo Ramelow with Christine Lieberknecht (left). The picture shows them on election day in Thuringia 2014. A little later Ramelow came to power.
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The CDU was caught by surprise, but has caught up again. One rejects the plan of former Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow to elect CDU politician Christine Lieberknecht for a short time as head of Thuringia, said Mike Mohring, the outgoing head of the CDU in Thuringia. Ramelow had tied a possible election to Lieberknecht’s demand for early elections. On Tuesday afternoon, Mohring said that Lieberknecht could possibly lead a new government, but Ramelow’s proposal fell short. A new government must first draw up and approve the state budget for the year. Then you can talk about new elections.
Thuringia has not had a new government since the autumn elections. In order to put an end to the state of limbo, ex-Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) has now submitted a proposal that was surprisingly and tactically clever. Ramelow desperately wants to become prime minister again, but his coalition of leftists, socialists and Greens no longer has a majority.
At first glance, Ramelow’s initiative looked as if he would give in and clear the way for an amicable solution: temporarily, the former CDU Prime Minister Christine Lieberknecht was to serve as head of government of Thuringia. It could form a “technical government” with only three ministers for about seventy days, it said. Before that, the state parliament should be dissolved and new elections decided. Ramelow wants to run again as a top candidate. His temporary withdrawal would have been a purely tactical maneuver. Of course, he preferred to speak of a “non-partisan way” to stabilize the country.
In front of the cameras in a turtleneck
On Monday, the Left, CDU, SPD and Greens in the state capital of Erfurt discussed solutions to the government crisis. Contrary to what was originally planned, Ramelow attended the meeting and came in front of the cameras in the turtleneck sweater late in the evening to present his idea. He presented himself again as a worried former father of the country – and quoted himself: Already in his government declaration at the end of December, he had asked “to leave familiar paths of government formation”. It is important to suppress the AfD’s influence in parliament.
At least as important is Ramelow’s re-election. The chances for this would not have decreased with the new proposal. Its popularity ratings in Thuringia are at a high level. Since the fuss over the election of the now resigned FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich, the poll values for his party, Die Linke, have improved. The CDU and FDP, however, have lost their approval. According to recent surveys, the FDP would fail the five percent hurdle if a new election was held, and the CDU could lose about half of its mandates.
The coup was cleverly staged
For this reason, the Christian Democrats fear early elections, but were in trouble. After days of standing still, Ramelow made a constructive offer to defuse the government crisis. By rejecting his proposal, the CDU risks further loss of reputation. Especially since Ramelow wants to tactically and cleverly put a CDU woman on the plate with former Prime Minister Lieberknecht. To reject the solution with the candidate from within the ranks could be interpreted as political folly by the Christian Democrats.
Ramelow had cleverly staged his proposal. He only informed the public about his idea after extensive consultation with the left, SPD, Greens and CDU. The Christian Democrats should hardly have categorically rejected his plan in the conversation, which could already be interpreted as half approval.
Does the taboo break?
Lieberknecht is said to have already declared her willingness to temporarily lead the state government. She was Prime Minister from 2009 to 2014 and knows Ramelow well. Die Zeit reports that he was on her sixtieth birthday and she was a guest at his wedding. However, if she had been elected head of government with the votes of the left, that would have been anything but unproblematic. A decision of the CDU federal party convention prohibits any form of cooperation with the left and with the AfD.
If Lieberknecht were elected with votes from the left, the noise would be programmed with the party headquarters in Berlin. On top of that, this would be seen as a rapprochement between Christian Democrats and the Left Party. The left wing of the CDU does not seem to see this as a problem. Conservative-bourgeois voters, however, would hardly be able to get across if the CDU and the successor party to the SED were to work together.
CDU and Greens are skeptical
The Greens were also not enthusiastic about the proposal. They continue to prefer the variant “that a capable government under Bodo Ramelow will be established quickly,” said state spokeswoman Ann-Sophie Bohm-Eisenbrandt. Just like the FDP, the Greens came just over the five percent hurdle in the state parliament election and would have to worry about re-entering the state parliament in new elections.
The trigger for the crisis in Thuringia was the election of the Prime Minister on February 5. Ramelow had no majority behind. He started, but was unable to prevail. Surprisingly, in the third ballot, the FDP politician Kemmerich was elected Prime Minister with votes from the CDU, FDP and AfD. The fact that two bourgeois parties voted together with the AfD sparked outrage. Kemmerich was hit hard because he came into office with the votes of the AfD and had not rejected the election. A few days later he resigned and is now only managing director.
Sympathy from Berlin
The choice has damaged the liberals’ reputation. Nationwide, the FDP would barely overcome the five percent hurdle. The situation is different for Ramelow, who has since been swimming on a wave of popularity and has received expressions of sympathy from top personnel from other parties. His latest proposal was also well received in Berlin. The Green Leader Annalena Baerbock wrote on Twitter: «Respect. This is how responsible action in the sense of democracy goes, dear CDU. »
SPD chairman Norbert Walter-Borjans was also full of praise, calling Ramelow’s proposal “Service to Democracy” and wrote: “It is now up to the CDU to take the outstretched hand.” In the end, however, it should have been clear to many that the outstretched hand handed out a poisoned gift. The Thuringian CDU is not in the best shape anyway and can currently not afford any experiments.
Eckhardt Rehberg, spokesman for the CDU state groups in the Bundestag, told the “Bild” newspaper: “Bodo Ramelow’s offer is poisoned and a trap.” You can not agree to cooperation with the left. Country head Mohring initially welcomed Ramelow’s proposal, but then apparently changed his mind. Mohring’s career comes to an abrupt end due to the Thuringian crisis. He was urged to resign and will have to give up party and parliamentary chairmanship in the next few months.
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