The AfD faction in the Thuringian Landtag failed to secure a constructive vote of no confidence against Minister‑President Mario Voigt, the incumbent from the CDU. The party had nominated its state leader, Björn Höcke, for the position. In a closed ballot on Wednesday, 33 members voted for Höcke, but that falls short of the 45 votes required. The AfD currently holds only 32 seats in the Landtag, so a majority could not be achieved. Had a majority chosen Höcke, Voigt would have been ousted.
The motion was defended by the AfD on the basis of the Technical University of Chemnitz’s decision to strip Voigt of his doctoral title. The CDU dismissed the proposal as a “pure staging”. All other parliamentary factions announced that they would vote against Höcke.
Voigt spoke in the parliamentary debate, saying, “I consider the TU Chemnitz decision wrong, and therefore I am pursuing a legal challenge as an individual”. He added that the university had commissioned an independent external review, which concluded that his work was an independent scholarly contribution and that there were no grounds for revocation.
However, the university has not followed its own assessment, instead introducing new evaluation rules during the ongoing proceedings. Voigt now relies on an administrative court to resolve the matter.