CDU And FDP Grapple With Thuringia Election Fallout

BERLIN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 07: German Agriculture and Consumer Protection Minister Julia Kloeckner, arrives at CDU headquarters for a meeting of the CDU leadership following the surprise recent election result of the new governor of Thuringia on February 7, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Thomas Kemmerich, candidate of the German Free Democrats (FDP), a party that garnered only 5% of the vote in Thuringia state elections, won the election in the state parliament after MPs from the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) threw their votes behind him and ignored their own candidate. The CDU MPs also voted for Kemmerich, enabling him to edge out the incumbent leftist candidate Bodo Ramelow, who was widely expected to win. Criticism has since hailed down on both the FDP and CDU, including by the federal CDU on the Thuringia state CDU, for affectively working together with the AFD. Kramp-Karrenbauer has called on Kemmerich to withdraw and for parties to agree on new state elections. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)