Politicians in the eastern German state of Thuringia re-elected a former state premier Wednesday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party sitting out the vote after a first try sank it into a deep crisis.
Lawmakers in the eastern German state of Thuringia will try again to elect a new state premier Wednesday, re-running a vote that sank Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party into what has been described as the biggest crisis in its history.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are in crisis mode after regional MPs sided with the far-right in a key vote, causing nationwide outrage and testing her leadership.
The new premier of Thuringia has stepped down after he was elected with the help of far-right AfD lawmakers in a vote Angela Merkel called "unforgivable". Here's why this is Germany's latest political crisis.
The premier of Germany's Thuringia state stepped down and called for snap elections Thursday, barely 24 hours
after he was elected with the help of far-right AfD lawmakers.
He is Germany's fresh-faced political
whizzkid, likes to tweet selfies, and shortly after midnight plunged
Chancellor Angela Merkel's caretaker government into turmoil.
The German constitution dictates that a new parliament's first session has to take place no later than 30 days after the election. But the parties still can’t decide on who is sitting where.
For the first time in German post-war history, a three-party coalition will have to be built at the national level. Angela Merkel is used to showing flexibility, but that isn’t necessarily true of the smaller parties.
Germany's general election brought the pro-business Free Democratic Party a triumphant return to parliament, looking all but certain to became a thorn in the side of both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Europe.
Germany's bone-hard stance on Europe's response to dealing with Greece's debt mountain has hardly endeared it to a nation labouring under the effects of austerity that multiple bailouts have engendered.
A week before German elections,
the storied Free Democratic Party looks set to recover from a historic 2013 defeat and return to parliament - where it could make Berlin a much more awkward partner for its European neighbours.
After soaring up in polling at the start of the year, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) are on the way back down, opening up the prospect of a "black-yellow" coalition after the national election.
With Germany raking in more taxes due to strong economic performance, the leader of its liberal party has suggested state officials are enriching themselves at the cost of the taxpayer.
Former German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, one of the country's most prominent openly gay politicians, died Friday, aged 54, after a long battle with leukaemia, his charity foundation said.
A poll published on Tuesday shows that at the peak of their tough talk towards Greece, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble have been earning even greater confidence from German voters.
The Social Democrat Party (SPD) have kept their mayoral seat in Hamburg after Sunday's election, but need a governing partner. Meanwhile, other parties further to the right made significant gains and losses.
The appearance of blacked-up charity collectors on national television on Tuesday revealed lingering racist undertones in German culture, an anti-racism group told The Local.
After a drubbing in the polls which has seen them wiped out in the Bundestag, Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) are pinning their hopes of a revival on a new... er... flag.
Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Sigmar Gabriel turned Angela Merkel's criticisms in her party conference speech back on her in media interviews on Wednesday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic (CDU) party is in search of a new partner after the expulsion of its former allies the Free Democrats (FDP) from the Saxon state parliament.
They were wiped out in the elections a month ago but as Germany slowly sorts out a government Liberal Party ministers remain in place. Their deputies will also be paid €22,000 over two months despite losing their seats in parliament.
Voters abandoned Germany's Liberal party in their droves on Sunday after the party spent four years in coalition with the Conservative CDU. The result should be a stark warning to Britain's Liberal Democrats, argues The Local's <b>Tom Bristow</b>.
The FDP meltdown continued late on Monday as the entire party leadership announced they would step down following Sunday's historic defeat. Five outgoing cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle fell on their swords.
As the nation awaits a new government, Germany's newspapers are rife with speculation over possible coalition negotiations. <b>The Local's media round-up</b> takes a look at their reaction to the election results.
