45 seats, 43.0% 28 seats, 26.2% 27 18 1 3 Date 30 August 2009 | 28 seats, 26.2% 15 seats, 14.5% 15 1 31.2% 27.4% | |
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Winner Christine Lieberknecht | ||
Thuringia held state elections on 30 August 2009, the same day as the Saarland and Saxony state elections. The election established the composition of the Landtag of Thuringia (Thuringia's parliament). According to the preliminary results, The Left and Social Democratic Party (SPD) together held a bare majority of seats, but a grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD was considered possible. The CDU and SPD formed a coalition seven weeks after the election.
Contents
Results
Turnout was 56.2%
Aftermath
CDU's leader, Dieter Althaus, resigned in the wake of the election defeat, saying he was taking responsibility for the his party's losing its absolute majority. However, it had also been noted that his remaining in office was a stumbling block to a coalition with the SPD. Both parties preferred that coalition to an SPD-Left-Green coalition: the CDU because such a coalition would leave them in opposition, and the SPD because of personal animosity between its leader, Christoph Matschie, and The Left leader Bodo Ramelow. In the end, a grand coalition of CDU and SPD was formed with new CDU leader Christine Lieberknecht as Minister-President.
Prior election
In the 2004 election, Minister-President Dieter Althaus was elected to a full term, having replaced Bernhard Vogel prior to the election. Althaus and his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won an absolute majority of 45 out of 88 seats.
Opinion polling
The following opinion polls have been conducted during the campaign: