Ex-BSW politicians in Thuringia launch Thüringen.Gerecht party to sustain state coalition

Party founding in Erfurt

On 6 September 2026, 14 former members of the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) founded a new political party named Thüringen.Gerecht in Erfurt. Thuringia Finance Minister and Deputy Minister-President Katja Wolf took the position of party chairwoman, with Infrastructure and Digital Minister Steffen Schütz and former BSW state director Steffi Eschrich elected as deputy chairs. The step followed the departure of Wolf and nine other state lawmakers from the BSW on 4 September 2026, after disputes escalated with the federal party leadership under Sahra Wagenknecht regarding state government participation and federal ties to the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

We have promised to ensure stability and reliability in Thuringia. Now we invite all people to put this promise into practice together with us.

Parliamentary restructuring and legal compliance

The quick founding of the party aimed to satisfy legal standards in the Thuringian Landtag, where the principle of homogeneity requires faction members to share party affiliation or programmatic agreement. Lawmakers Alexander Kästner and former BSW faction leader Sigrid Hupach scheduled an extraordinary faction meeting for the morning of 9 September 2026 to dissolve the old BSW parliamentary group and appoint a liquidator. A new parliamentary faction under the Thüringen.Gerecht banner is set to form immediately afterward with 10 members, allowing the lawmakers to participate in the three-day parliamentary session starting that afternoon.

Coalition arithmetic and shifting balances

The reorganization directly affects the coalition led by Minister-President Mario Voigt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since late 2024, the coalition of the CDU, BSW, and Social Democratic Party (SPD) governed with 44 of the 88 seats in the Landtag. With only 10 lawmakers joining the new Thüringen.Gerecht faction, three former members forming a separate parliamentary group, and two remaining in the BSW as non-attached lawmakers, government voting strength falls to an expected 39 seats. This shift increases the leverage of Die Linke, whose votes were already needed to secure legislative majorities.

Political reactions and opposition challenges

Opposition parties and remaining BSW politicians criticized the maneuver. The two remaining BSW lawmakers, Anke Wirsing and Sven Küntzel, accused the defecting members of bargaining for office and argued that the coalition agreement had collapsed. In neighboring Saxony-Anhalt, BSW state leader Thomas Schulze demanded immediate snap elections in Thuringia. AfD parliamentary manager Wiebke Muhsal questioned the legality of the new faction, while AfD state leader Björn Höcke pushed to strip parliamentary funding from the group. Voigt supported the creation of Thüringen.Gerecht, stating that it establishes clarity and orderly conditions in the state administration.

Those who found a new party while wanting to continue governing should have the courage to face the voters with this party.