Formation of government: BSW committees approve coalition negotiations in Thuringia

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in Thuringia is now officially ready for coalition negotiations with the CDU and the SPD. The party committees agreed to this on Tuesday evening, despite criticism from the party’s federal leadership. “The decision marks an important step towards a stable and future-oriented government for Thuringia that puts the interests of the citizens first,” said the BSW.

“We take the responsibility that the voters have given us seriously and are doing everything we can to align Thuringia with a social, fair and peaceful future,” said Thuringia BSW boss Katja Wolf. We look forward to constructive and solution-oriented negotiations and will provide ongoing information about progress.

Criticism from the BSW federal leadership

BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht had previously clearly criticized the Thuringian compromise on BSW’s peace policy demands and called it a “mistake”. It falls well short of an agreement found in Brandenburg. Other federal politicians from the party also attacked the Thuringian regional association harshly. When presenting the peace passage on Monday, BSW state chief Katja Wolf said that approval from the federal leadership was “not intended from a purely formal point of view”.

The state leaders of the CDU, BSW and SPD had already met on Tuesday for an initial discussion on forming a government. The two-hour working meeting discussed, among other things, the composition of working groups and the schedule, said a spokesman for the Thuringian CDU state parliamentary group. Specific details will only be announced once there is clarity on the issues.

A total of seven negotiating groups are planned on topics such as the economy and migration. Among other things, it must be clarified which party is the chair of each group. As soon as the substantive negotiations start, the parties want to give each other two weeks.