Erfurt/Suhl (dpa/th) – The former chairman of the left parliamentary group, Gregor Gysi, made a guest appearance in a carnival video by his party colleague Bodo Ramelow. Gysi cheers on the Thuringian head of government in the clip during boxing training, with which Ramelow is preparing for political Ash Wednesday. This traditionally takes place on Shrove Tuesday in Suhl in southern Thuringia. “Bodo, you will spit fog, you will eat lightning and shoot thunder, and you will be a very dangerous opponent,” says Gysi in the video that was to be shown in Suhl on Tuesday.
Funk music with plenty of brass is playing in the background. Throughout the clip, Ramelow can be seen in various training situations – jogging at Little Venice in Erfurt, jumping rope in a boxing ring or running alongside a country road towards Suhl. Of course, Ramelow’s First Dog Atilla with a scene in the State Chancellery shouldn’t be missing either. The 67-year-old also meets old acquaintances.
It’s not the first carnival video with Ramelow. In 2019, for example, Germany’s only left prime minister mimed a member of the Olsen Gang. It was then that he went in search of the insignia of power.
Gysi encourages Ramelow in the new video. “Bodo, when you come into the hall, you will be ready,” he says. And: “Your challengers will not give you victory. Pack up, you have a chance!”
In real life, Ramelow faces a bigger challenge: In 2024, there will be a regular state election in Thuringia. Ramelow has already announced that he wants to compete again. He is currently leading a minority government of the Left, SPD and Greens, which is dependent on opposition votes in parliament. In the most recent polls, the AfD was ahead in Thuringia, but the lead to the left, in second place, recently melted.