Angela Merkel's party in crucible as Thuringia votes again
Angela Merkel
Lawmakers in eastern German state Thuringia will try again to elect a new state premier Wednesday, re-running a vote that sank Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Social Union (CDU) party into what has been described as the biggest crisis in its history.
It is the second attempt in a month to form a working government in the former East German state, after CDU MPs there unleashed an earthquake in national politics by voting with the far-right AfD in February.
Amid the national outrage, the liberal candidate elected during the first vote on February 5 stepped down, leaving the state rudderless.
But more significantly, the apparent cooperation of CDU politicians with the far-right triggered the departure of Merkel's designated successor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and sparked a new leadership contest for the German chancellor's party.
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The race to a new CDU leadership election on April 25 is a fresh struggle for control between supporters of the chancellor's centrist course and those who believe the party must tack right.
But so far none has offered a convincing answer to the CDU's conundrum in Thuringia, squeezed between the extremes of left and right.
Former state premier Bodo Ramelow of the far left is now up against far-right firebrand Bjoern Hoecke, with Merkel's conservatives once again the reluctant kingmakers.