What helps the AfD: The Left Party’s double standards

When the Thuringian state parliament elected FDP state chairman Thomas Kemmerich as Prime Minister on February 5, 2020, no historical comparison was too great for the Left.

The then state party leader threw the bouquet of flowers at the feet of the person who had just been elected and spoke of a “pact with fascism”, while the elected head of government Bodo Ramelow complained that the CDU, together with the FDP, had held “Höcke’s stirrup”.

In fact, the state parliament had broken a historical taboo. For the first time in the Federal Republic, a head of government came to office with votes from right-wing extremists.

As a reminder: On February 5, 2020, the CDU refused to confirm Ramelow at the head of a red-red-green minority government by voting yes or abstaining. Instead, she chose the FDP candidate Kemmerich. The AfD took advantage of the opportunity presented to it: instead of voting for its own candidate, it voted for the liberal – and helped him gain a majority.

Now, almost five years later, there could again be a Prime Minister in Thuringia at the mercy of the AfD. Only this time, to use Ramelow’s words, it would be his own Left Party that would hold the stirrup to Björn Höcke’s AfD.

Just as the CDU was once unwilling to allow the left-wing head of government to secure re-election, today the left is refusing to provide clarity before the planned election of CDU man Mario Voigt. Or, to stay in the Ramelow style again: Now she could do the business of the so-called fascists.

Of course, the situations of 2020 and 2024 cannot be equated. In addition to the distribution of roles, circumstances have also changed. Nevertheless, the result could be similar to back then if CDU state leader Mario Voigt stands for election on Thursday.

Voigt could expect half of all votes in the state parliament. His coalition with BSW and SPD brings together 44 of the 88 MPs. There is only one vote missing from the majority – this vote could come from either the AfD (32 MPs) or the Left (12 MPs).

So if the Left parliamentary group votes no, abstains or even puts forward its own candidate, it gives the AfD the opportunity to destroy: The Höcke faction could make Voigt Prime Minister from among its ranks with a single vote.

The CDU state leader would then be faced with the same decision as Kemmerich back then: should he accept the election with the help of right-wing extremists? Or does he refuse and ensure that Ramelow remains in office as acting Prime Minister? No matter how he behaved: it would be a celebration for the AfD.

The Left argues that the CDU could easily avoid this trap. All it would have to do is what Voigt and Ramelow did after the Kemmerich election: conclude a so-called stability pact.

At this point the left has a point. Yes, the CDU would have to move. But Voigt finds himself in an impossible position. He already expects his CDU to form a coalition with Sahra Wagenknecht’s populist left-wing split. Furthermore, accepting de facto tolerance by the Left: That would be difficult to convey to Friedrich Merz’s own party in the federal election campaign.

In addition, the paper that the left is demanding is purely symbolic politics. An agreement can be terminated without having to re-form the government.

On the other hand, if the coalition does not want to rely on the AfD, it will remain dependent on the left’s help. She could therefore push for concessions in parliamentary operations.

CDU boss Voigt has even come up with a procedure for this: the consultation mechanism. The aim is to involve the opposition factions – specifically the Left – in the legislation during cabinet deliberations. But that’s not enough for Ramelow’s state party.

It is understandable that the left played poker for a while to get even more out of it. Any party would act this way. But now a point has been reached where the Left is doing what it accused the CDU of almost five years ago with the greatest possible furor: putting the AfD on the offensive and damaging the reputation of the Thuringian parliament.

Yes, Voigt and the Union would then be involved in the disaster again. But this time the left was largely to blame for its double standards.