Parliament: CDU man König is the new Thuringian state parliament president

The CDU MP Thadäus König has been elected as the new Thuringian state parliament president. The 42-year-old received 54 votes and thus achieved the required majority. He clearly prevailed against Wiebke Muhsal, who was put forward by the AfD. The 38-year-old received 32 votes. The CDU, BSW, Left and SPD had already declared in advance that they would not elect a representative of the AfD to Thuringia’s second highest state office. The AfD, headed by right winger Björn Höcke, is classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution as proven right-wing extremist.

The election came after the Thuringian Constitutional Court issued an interim order late on Friday evening setting out the rules that AfD senior president Jürgen Treutler had to adhere to. Before the election, the MPs passed a motion from the CDU and BSW, according to which all factions were given the right to propose candidates for the presidential election and not just the AfD, which in Thuringia is the strongest faction in a German state parliament for the first time.

AfD senior president stuck to the rules

The first attempt to constitute the Thuringian state parliament turned into a debacle on Thursday and a permanent confrontation between the strong AfD and the four other factions. There were repeated interruptions and heckling, and decisions were not made. Finally the demolition took place. With the interim order requested by the CDU parliamentary group, the Constitutional Court of the Free State gave its say. He set clear limits on the actions of the AfD senior president, who was heavily criticized. Treutler accepted the decision of the constitutional judges and adhered to the rules.

The constitutional judges also commented on the right to make proposals in the state parliament presidential election: “The intended regulation, which stipulates that all factions – and not just the strongest faction – are allowed to submit nominations for the election of the state parliament president in the first round of voting does not violate constitutional law.”

Muhsal was controversial in advance

The defeated Muhsal was sentenced to a fine for fraud years ago. Courts found it proven that she had advanced an employment contract with an employee by two months in 2014 in order to receive additional money from the state parliament administration. Other MPs saw her nomination as a provocation.

König, on the other hand, received a leap of faith in advance. The BSW, the Left and the SPD confirmed that the doctor of political science was capable of reaching a consensus. König comes from the predominantly Catholic town of Eichsfeld and defeated Höcke in the 2019 state election in the fight for the direct mandate. In the state election four weeks ago, he achieved the best first vote result nationwide.