Thread by @jonworth

This is a must-read to understand what is going to happen in #Thüringen today:
mdr.de/thueringen/min…

I will summarise in English in this thread

Starting at around 1400 CET today, the Land Parliament in Thüringen are once more going to try to elect a Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident)

Ramelow (Left - Die Linke) and Höcke (Populist Right - AfD) are the two standing

Neither Ramelow (with Die Linke, SPD and Greens behind him), nor Höcke (with the AfD behind him) have enough votes to win in the first round

The question is: how do FDP and CDU behave?

FDP has said it will not vote for anyone.

The CDU will also probably not back either candidate, although a few members of parliament (MdLs) could split off and vote for Ramelow

If this persists until the third round of voting - that FDP and CDU back no one in rounds 1 and 2, only a simple majority is needed in the third round - and there Ramelow (with 42 votes from Linke, SPD, Greens) will win against Höcke (22 votes)

The deal then with new parliamentary leader of the CDU in Thüringen @mariovoigt (who's a clever guy I've met a few times) is a budget and some important laws would then be passed, but new elections in Thüringen would be brought forward to April

This all sounds like an inherently sensible way to proceed after the tumult and shock from January. Can they all, I wonder, stick to it?

We'll know by this afternoon!

/ends