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Thuringia Chaos: Die Linke Candidate Ramelow State Premier

Left party politician Bodo Ramelow wins key German state vote | DW |
Bodo Ramelow has won the vote to become Thuringia's state premier after a right-wing scandal rocked the state. Ramelow essentially ran unopposed in the decisive third round of ballots.
Lawmakers in Germany's eastern state of Thuringia elected the Left party's Bodo Ramelow as state premier on Wednesday after months of political uncertainty and a major scandal involving the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
Ramelow failed to gain a majority in the first two rounds of voting in a divided state with no clear ruling majority coalition. However, the state's constitution dictates that if a third round is neccessary, whoever garners the most votes wins.
Asked if he accepted the result, Ramelow nodded and said merely, "yes."
In his acceptance speech, Ramelow said he would have preferred "if Thuringia had not become internationally famous this way."

'Fascist' refused handshake in #Thueringen parliament.
Far right AfD's Thuringia leader @BjoernHoecke, who can legally be called 'fascist', refused handshake by newly elected State Premier @bodoramelow.
Why?
AfD voting trick 4 weeks ago sparked political chaos, voter trust down pic.twitter.com/37vtDzT8xN
— Michaela Kuefner (@MKuefner) March 4, 2020

State-level scandal with national implications
The scandal also saw CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who had been seen as Merkel's hand-picked successor, forced to step down as party chief -- scuttling her ambitions to fight for the chancellorship next year. Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) himself offered his resignation barely a day after the election, but has been caretaker state premier since the vote.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, the outcome had been anything but clear as the state CDU said it would abstain from voting and the FDP refused to support the Left party. There was also added furor over the AfD putting forward state party spokesman Björn Höcke, a politician known in Germany for a series of xenophobic and anti-Semitic scandals.