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The inhabitants of the eastern German state of Thuringia voted massively for radical parties in regional elections. The radical left party Die Linke, according to preliminary results, will be the largest party with around 30 percent of the votes. The radical right-wing party AfD would more than double its number of votes and reach more than 22 percent of the votes.
The anti-immigrant party AfD thus narrowly passes the CDU of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The German Christian Democrats lose more than ten percent and remain stuck at the historically low score of 22 percent for Thuringia.
The Social Democratic SPD is also projected to fall to a new low: 8.0 percent. Die Grünen and the liberal FDP are again close to the electoral threshold, which is five percent.
With this result, Land Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow of Die Linke can once again take the initiative to form a new coalition. At 65 percent, the turnout was considerably higher than five years ago (52.7). The provisional result is nationally a new setback for the 'big coalition' of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU / CSU and SPD) in Berlin.
Ramelow was pleased with the appreciation for his policy and with the large number of visitors to the polls. ,, I see this as a clear confirmation. The government's assignment unambiguously ended up with my party. I will accept that assignment. Because so far no other party wants to work with the AfD, it seems that forming a new majority for Die Linke is a difficult job. A continuation of the current coalition between Die Linke, Die Grünen and SPD will not be possible according to the current outcome. In the CDU votes are now being voted on to enter into a coalition with Die Linke.
AfD chairman Jörg Meuthen sees in the result proof that his party is becoming increasingly accepted by the average citizen. He pointed to the demise of former people's parties, including in Thuringia, and the promotion of the AfD to the established order.