Thuringia’s head of government, Ramelow, publicly advocates arms deliveries to Ukraine, deviating from his party’s line. Two of his comrades criticize him severely and apply for expulsion from the party. Ramelow is relaxed and even gains something positive from the application.
Two members of the Left Party from Saxony have applied for Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow to be expelled from the party. A corresponding letter has been received by the arbitration commission of the left in Thuringia, as the “Spiegel” reports in a preliminary report. The background is Ramelow’s attitude to the war in Ukraine. The politician recently spoke out in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine and declared that “anyone who is attacked has the right to defend himself”. In doing so, the prime minister expressly went against the line of his own party leadership.
According to “Spiegel”, the applicants write that they have now completely abandoned their belief in “‘Comrade’ Ramelow”. Tens of thousands of people have already died in the war. “Why do only American interests count… and why have Russian interests been ignored again and again?” The left top comrade accepts the annihilation of mankind in a nuclear inferno. According to the two applicants, Ramelow should be expelled from the party, “because his actions are further dividing our party and endangering its existence.” After all, even Saxony’s CDU leader Michael Kretschmer spoke out against arms deliveries.
Ramelow himself explains that he is calm about the proceedings. “This is an option for more clarity and knowledge within the party,” believes the head of government.
Ramelow has until mid-January to comment on the application for exclusion. Then the Thuringian Arbitration Commission will decide whether to open proceedings. According to the party’s arbitration rules, “in the case of admissible and not obviously unfounded applications, the procedure is to be opened if a violation of rights arising from party affiliation, the articles of association or the statutory provisions is conclusively alleged”. There is no legal remedy against this. Apparently, the applicants also sent the application to the federal executive committee of the party.
