Sunday, February 9, 2020

Uproar in Germany

German politics is in uproar.

Thoms Kemmerich, with the support of the far-right AfD party was elected premier in the East German state of Thuringia.

Kemmerich, a member of the FDP (liberal Free Democrats) also received the support of the CDU, the party of Angela Merkel.

The German Chancellor has called unforgivable what has happened. Yesterday Merkel sacked CDU Christian Hirte from his job as Federal Commissioner for the Affairs of the Eastern States. Hirte had congratulated Kemmerich on being elected state premier in Thuringia.

Barely 24 hours in the job Kemmerich has stepped down as state premier. There has been State-wide uproar on FDP and CDU accepting the support of the AfD.

It is the first time in German post-war history that a state premier was helped into office with the support of a far-right party.

It was in Thuringia in the dying days of the Weimar Republic more than 90 years ago, the Nazis first won power locally, with the help of conservative parties, before Hitler was sworn in as German Chancellor in 1933.

Kemmerich's premiership is the shortest in the Federal Republic of Germany.

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