"Smear theater" in Thuringia AfD right-winger Björn Höcke provokes - and fails again
Thuringia's strong AfD parliamentary group repeatedly causes awkward situations for the government. Now state leader Björn Höcke wanted to have the Minister President voted out of office - and clearly failed.
04.02.2026, 18:56
SDA
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- Björn Höcke and the Thuringian AfD have failed in a vote of no confidence against Minister President Mario Voigt (CDU).
- Höcke, who is considered the far right of his right-wing populist party, wanted to become Minister President himself.
- After the failed takeover, his actions were criticized as a "smear show".
The Prime Minister of the German state of Thuringia, Mario Voigt, has survived a parliamentary attack by his permanent opponent Björn Höcke from the right-wing populist AfD party. The 48-year-old remains head of government: the AfD, which has the strongest parliamentary group in Thuringia, failed in a vote of no confidence in the CDU Minister President in the state parliament.
Höcke, one of the most influential AfD politicians, stood as a candidate for the post of head of government himself - and received 33 votes in the secret ballot. That is one more vote than the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament has. 45 MPs voted against the vote of no confidence and thus expressed their trust in Voigt.
Höcke failed once before
In his speech, Höcke turned the vote into a kind of mood test for Voigt's coalition, which only has 44 out of 88 votes in the state parliament. "The vote will once again make it clear who stands where," said Höcke, particularly in the direction of the BSW.
The vote of no confidence was a continuation of the power struggle between Höcke and Voigt, which has repeatedly been a tough battle in the state parliament sessions. The reason in this case: Voigt is under political pressure because his doctorate was revoked by Chemnitz University of Technology following allegations of plagiarism.
Höcke first demanded Voigt's resignation, then the AfD parliamentary group requested a vote of no confidence. It already has experience with this: in 2021, it launched such proceedings against the then Minister President Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) - also without success at the time.
Representatives of the coalition of CDU, BSW and SPD in Thuringia - which used to be part of the GDR - criticized the AfD's actions in the state parliament as a "show event" and "smear theater". CDU parliamentary group leader Andreas Bühl accused Höcke of turning the vote of no confidence into a stage for himself. "They are demanding power without being able to hold this country together."
