Landtag of Thuringia

The Landtag of Thuringia is the parliament of the German federal state of Thuringia. It convenes in Erfurt and currently consists of 90 members from six parties. According to the free state's constitution, the primary functions of the Landtag are to pass laws, elect the Minister-President and control the government of Thuringia.

Landtag of Thuringia

Thüringer Landtag
Type
Type
Established1920
Leadership
President
Birgit Keller, The Left
since 26 November 2019
Structure
Seats90
Political groups
Government (42)
  •   The Left (29)
  •   SPD (8)
  •   The Greens (5)

Opposition (48)

Elections
Last election
27 October 2019
Next election
not later than 2024, possibly 25 April 2021
Meeting place
The Chamber of the Landtag of Thuringia (inside)
Website
www.thueringer-landtag.de

Elections
The Landtag of Thuringia (front)

Elections are held every five years using the German Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system, with an election threshold of 5% vote share to receive any seats. All German citizens 18 years of age or older living in Thuringia are entitled to vote. If a party wins more constituency seats than its overall share of the vote, the overall size of the Landtag increases because of these overhang and leveling mandates.

Current composition
See also: 2019 Thuringian state election

As of the elections of 27 October 2019, The Left is the largest party.

Party Seats Group leader
The Left (Linke) Susanne Hennig-Wellsow
Alternative for Germany (AfD) Björn Höcke
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Mario Voigt
Social Democratic Party (SPD) Matthias Hey
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) Astrid Rothe-Beinlich
Free Democratic Party (FDP) Thomas Kemmerich

History
Former Thuringian Landtag (Fürstenhaus) in Weimar

The Landtag of the newly established Free State of Thuringia (Freistaat Thüringen) first convened in 1920 in Weimar. Its deputies were elected for three years according to a proportional representation system, with a minimum voting age of 21. During the Weimar Republic period until 1933, six state elections were held. Upon the 1929 elections, Thuringia became one of the first German federal states where the Nazi Party gained real political power. Wilhelm Frick was appointed Minister of the Interior for the state of Thuringia after the NSDAP won six delegates to the Landtag. In the 1932 elections the Nazis emerged as the strongest party with 26 of 61 seats and Fritz Sauckel assumed the office of Minister-President. One year later, after the Nazi seizure of power in Berlin, the Landtag diet was dissolved in course of the Gleichschaltung process.

After World War II, the State of Thuringia was re-established as part of the Soviet occupation zone. On 13 June 1946 the Soviet Military Administration summoned a state assembly (Landesversammlung) chaired by Ricarda Huch; the first post-war Landtag elections were held on 20 October 1946 and the constituent meeting took place on November 21 at the Elephant hotel in Weimar. By the 1949 Constitution of East Germany, the Landtag diets were largely deprived of power and the second state elections on 15 October 1950 were already held under the terms of the National Front unity list. In 1952, the East German government dissolved the federal states and Thuringia was divided into districts (Bezirke) centered in Erfurt, Gera and Suhl.

The State of Thuringia was restored during Germany's reunification and Landtag elections were again held on 14 October 1990.

Notes
  1. Working as a constructive opposition, without a formal confidence and supply agreement with the government. The CDU abstained in the investiture vote of the Left's minister-president candidate, Bodo Ramelow.

See also

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.