BSW in Saxony: No uniform vote in MP election

According to Sabine Zimmermann, the leader of Sahra Wagenknecht's (BSW) parliamentary group, there will be no unanimous vote today in the election of the Prime Minister of Saxony. "We have released the vote because it is a decision of conscience," she said on Deutschlandfunk radio. However, she ruled out BSW votes for the AfD candidate Jörg Urban. "Urban will not be elected by us, and then we will have the choice between Matthias Berger and Michael Kretschmer."

The incumbent Kretschmer from the CDU is seeking another term in office, but does not have his own majority in the state parliament in the new coalition with the SPD. Berger, who has no parliamentary group, is the only representative of the Free Voters in the state parliament. He used to be the mayor of Grimma and is considering forming a cross-party government of experts. Zimmermann said there would be "no joint vote, meaning that we are all for Mr. Kretschmer or all for Mr. Berger".

Zimmermann does not believe that BSW votes could lead to Berger possibly being elected Minister President with the support of the AfD. She does not think there will be that many votes for Berger. "We won't have a Kemmerich effect here in Saxony," said the BSW state leader.

In Thuringia, the AfD put forward its own candidate in 2020, but then used its votes to help FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich into the office of head of government. This triggered a political quake. Kemmerich accepted the election, but resigned three days later following public pressure.

Black-Red in Saxony is ten votes short of a majority in the state parliament. The BSW has 15 seats. The AfD and the Greens do not want to give Kretschmer a vote, while the Left Party has previously kept a low profile. The state parliament meets this morning to elect the prime minister.