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CDU parliamentary group chairman Mario Voigt in the Thuringian state parliament

Photo: Martin Schutt / dpa

The reduction of the real estate transfer tax in Thuringia is causing a stir. The opposition had the opportunity to push through the amendment against the red-red-green minority coalition – and did so.

With the votes of the opposition CDU, FDP and AfD, the state parliament in Erfurt decided to reduce the tax from 6.5 to 5.0 percent – the Christian Democrats had introduced a corresponding proposal. Because the AfD voted for the change, there is now the accusation that the CDU in particular is making common cause with the far-right party, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia classifies as proven right-wing extremist.

Ramelow: »Pact with the Devil«

The CDU initiative had been causing a stir for days. The majority in the Thuringian state parliament is difficult: The red-red-green government coalition of Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) has not had its own majority since 2020 – it lacks four votes.

Before the vote, Ramelow spoke of a "pact with the devil" and offered talks to the CDU. Alternatives to family support, which the CDU aims to achieve with its law to reduce the real estate transfer tax, could be discussed, said Ramelow. There are also constitutional concerns about individual passages in the CDU's draft law, the Prime Minister stressed.

The CDU, AfD and FDP had already approved the tax cut last week in the Budget Committee, clearing the way for a vote in parliament.

In the run-up to the vote, representatives of the Left Party, the SPD and the Greens accused the opposition of causing the country to lose revenue with the planned reduction. "A vote with the AfD is not the normal political business," warned SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Hey of the CDU. "You'd rather vote with Björn Höcke than talk to Matthias Hey."

Merz: "There is no cooperation with the AfD"

In the run-up to the debate, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz had rejected accusations that his party was making common cause with the AfD. "We do not make what we discuss in the state parliaments as well as in the German Bundestag dependent on other parliamentary groups," Merz said in RTL/ntv's "Frühstart".

There will be no cooperation with the AfD at the federal and state level, Merz said in the broadcast. The Thuringian CDU chairman Mario Voigt had discussed the matter with him in advance, Merz said. Voigt said before the debate that Ramelow's coalition was about "pushing the CDU into a corner and scandalizing the vote." There have been no talks with the AfD, there is no cooperation.

Wissler sharply criticises CDU

"The alleged firewall of the CDU to the right is a curtain that is pushed aside at will," Left Party leader Janine Wissler told SPIEGEL. "The CDU is making common cause here with the party of the fascist Höcke to enforce a tax law that will primarily benefit the richer." The fact that the Thuringian CDU does not do this without the green light from Berlin is obvious and makes the process all the more dangerous.

Green Party co-chair Ricarda Lang also warned Merz against a shift in position. There should be no cooperation with the AfD, Lang said. In a democracy, there is a need for a stable conservative force for which it is clear that there is no cooperation with right-wing extremist parties.

Next year, a new state parliament will be elected in Thuringia. It is expected that there will again be difficult majorities and that the formation of a government could take time.

aeh/col/dpa