When the President of the State Parliament, Thadäus König, read out the result, things remained noticeably quiet in the Thuringian Parliament. No applause, no anger, no surprise. The AfD parliamentary group has requested a constructive vote of no confidence for Wednesday. Prime Minister Mario Voigt (CDU) should no longer remain “country father”, it was said in advance. Instead, AfD leader Björn Höcke should take office.
To win, Höcke would need 45 votes. His AfD parliamentary group has 32 members. The CDU politician and state parliament President König announced in a monotonous voice: Höcke received 33 votes and 51 voted against him. Voigt remains Prime Minister. Höcke nods, stands up, buttons his jacket and leaves the plenary hall.
A different result was not previously expected. The tension in the state parliament was still noticeably high. In Thuringia, things don’t always go as expected. The best example was almost exactly six years ago. On February 5, 2020, the AfD nominated a candidate for prime minister, but did not give him a single vote. Instead, the AfD MPs elected Thomas Kemmerich (then FDP), together with his parliamentary group and the CDU, as Prime Minister. A serious government crisis followed. The mood in the state parliament was correspondingly tense this Wednesday before the vote of no confidence.
About three quarters of an hour before the results were announced, Höcke was still standing at the lectern in the middle of the state parliament. The debate on the vote of no confidence began with him, the AfD candidate for the office of Prime Minister.
Höcke speaks directly to the BSW
The reason for the whole thing, explains Höcke, was the revocation of Voigt’s doctorate by the Chemnitz University of Technology. The Prime Minister submitted his dissertation there in Saxony about 18 years ago. Now, at the end of January, the TU Faculty Council unanimously decided to revoke Voigt’s title. However, he is suing against this decision, believing it to be wrong. An external report came to the conclusion that it was an independent work. “The scientific core of my work is undisputed,” says Voigt. The conditions for withdrawal were not met.
During his speech, Höcke mostly looks to the right, to his AfD faction. It’s about trust and credibility, he emphasizes, listing politicians who resigned from their positions after their doctoral degrees were revoked. Thuringia doesn’t deserve Voigt not doing that. Then the AfD leader suddenly turns to the BSW faction, which governs Thuringia together with the CDU and the SPD. The BSW MPs should support him, demands Höcke. Together, the AfD and BSW currently have a majority in the Thuringian state parliament.
After Höcke, the chairmen of the other parliamentary groups speak. Andreas Bühl (CDU) assures that the good work of the state government is independent of titles and doctoral degrees. The AfD’s politics are just loud and “empty of content”, which the right-wing extremist party is trying to cover up with loud appearances.
Höcke shakes his head and takes notes. Frank Augsten (BSW) assures that his group is in no way moving towards the AfD. Christian Schaft (Left Party) asks whether they want to elect someone as Prime Minister who has been “legally convicted”. Höcke is considered to have a criminal record because he repeatedly used the slogan of the National Socialist combat organization “Sturmabteilung” in political speeches. Then the SPD parliamentary group leader Lutz Liebscher turns to Höcke: “You’ve done it again, we’ve been dealing with your productions in this tall building for three quarters of an hour.”
In the end, Höcke missed the majority. The Thuringian government remains in office. While the AfD leader leaves the plenary hall, State Parliament President König announces the next item on the agenda.