Deal reached in German election dispute

BERLIN — Lawmakers in eastern Germany agreed on a way to vote in a new state government without the support of a far-right party, avoiding a repeat of a decision earlier this month that caused a political uproar at the national level.

Thuringia state lawmakers from several parties said late Friday that they agreed to hold another vote next month to choose the state’s governor and to have the next state elections in April 2021.

An earlier vote in parliament led to the ouster of Thuringia’s incumbent governor. A pro-business candidate won the office. Lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany party supported him along with state representatives from the regional branch of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.

Thomas Kemmerich’s acceptance of the votes of the Alternative for Germany party — and the Christian Democrats’ voting with far-right colleagues — appalled left-leaning parties and many in the mainstream center-right camp. Merkel called Kemmerich’s election “inexcusable.”

Kemmerich, a member of the Free Democrats party, resigned three days after winning the state governorship. Partnering with the far right has been a political taboo since after World War II.

Under the agreement announced Friday, state leaders of Merkel’s party agreed to support the reelection of Thuringia’s previous state governor, Bodo Ramelow of the left-wing Linke party.

The government Ramelow led lost its majority in an October state election. In a first for Germany, the election produced no majority coalition without the addition of the Alternative for Germany party or Ramelow’s party, which the Christian Democratic Union shuns as a descendant of East Germany’s ruling communists.