The AfD faction in the Thuringian state parliament failed in its attempt to pass a constructive vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Mario Voigt (CDU). In a secret ballot held on Wednesday, 33 deputies voted in favor of AfD state chairman Björn Höcke. A majority of 45 votes would have been required, but the AfD still holds only 32 seats in the parliament. Voigt would have been removed from office as Prime Minister had the majority chosen Höcke.
The AfD based its motion on the Technical University of Chemnitz’s decision to strip Voigt of his doctoral title. The CDU dismissed the motion as a “pure staging”. All other parties, except the AfD, announced that they would vote against Höcke.
Voigt defended himself during the parliamentary debate, stating, “I consider the university’s decision to be wrong, and therefore I am taking legal action as a private individual”. He noted that the university had commissioned an independent external review, which concluded that his work was an independent scientific achievement and that the grounds for revocation did not exist. Voigt added that the university had disregarded its own assessment and introduced new evaluation criteria during the ongoing proceedings. He now expects the resolution to come through administrative court rulings.
