Second Ramelow cabinet
# Second Ramelow cabinet

The second Ramelow cabinet is the current state government of Thuringia, sworn in on 4 March 2020 after Bodo Ramelow was elected as Minister-President by the members of the Landtag of Thuringia. It is the 8th Cabinet of Thuringia.

It was formed after the 2020 Thuringian government crisis which emerged from the 2019 Thuringian state election. The government is a coalition of The Left (LINKE), the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE). Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprises eight ministers. Four are members of The Left, three are members of the SPD, and two are members of the Greens.

## Formation

The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the Left, SPD, and Greens led by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow of The Left.

The state election took place on 27 October 2019, and resulted in the incumbent coalition losing its majority to the conservative opposition of the AfD, CDU, and FDP. However, all parties had ruled out working with the AfD, and the CDU and FDP had ruled out working with The Left. The Landtag thus became deadlocked as it was not possible to reach a majority without cooperation between two of The Left, the CDU, and the AfD.

Despite this, The Left, SPD, and Greens agreed to renew their coalition as a minority government. The election process for the Minister-President enables a candidate to win with a plurality of votes in the third round if an absolute majority is not reached in the first two.

The Landtag convened for its first session on 5 February 2020. In the first two ballots for Minister-President, there were two candidates: Bodo Ramelow of The Left, and Christoph Kindervater, an independent proposed by the AfD. They fell short of the required majority in the first and second rounds. On the third ballot, the FDP also put forward their state leader Thomas Kemmerich. Kemmerich was elected Minister-President with 45 votes, corresponding to the support of most of the AfD, CDU, and FDP. Ramelow received 44 votes, corresponding to The Left, SPD, Greens, and two members of the opposition. Kindervater received no votes. One abstention was recorded.

Minister-President election :

| Ballot → | Ballot → | 5 February 2020 | 5 February 2020 | 5 February 2020 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 46 out of 90 N | 46 out of 90 N | Plurality Y |
| | Bodo Ramelow | 43 / 90 | 44 / 90 | 44 / 90 |
| | Christoph Kindervater | 25 / 90 | 22 / 90 | 0 / 90 |
| | Thomas Kemmerich | Did not run | Did not run | 45 / 90 |
| | Abstentions | 22 / 90 | 24 / 90 | 1 / 90 |

Kemmerich's victory was highly unexpected. Neither the CDU nor AfD had indicated that they would support him. The participation of the AfD was perceived as a breach of the cordon sanitaire practised against them by all other parties. It was condemned across the German political spectrum and protests broke out across the country. In addition, Kemmerich insisted that the AfD would not be brought into government, leaving him without a workable majority in the Landtag. He announced his resignation on 8 February.

Following joint discussions, The Left, CDU, SPD, and Greens agreed on 21 February to invest Bodo Ramelow as Minister-President to lead a Left–SPD–Green minority government ahead of a planned early election in April 2021.

Bodo Ramelow was elected Minister-President by the Landtag on 4 March after three rounds of voting. The Left, SPD, and Greens supported Ramelow, while AfD put forward state chairman Björn Höcke and the CDU abstained. The FDP was not present for the vote. Höcke withdrew on the third ballot and Ramelow was elected with 43 votes in favour, 23 against, and 20 abstentions.

Minister-President election :

| Ballot → | Ballot → | 4 March 2020 | 4 March 2020 | 4 March 2020 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 46 out of 90 N | 46 out of 90 N | Plurality Y |
| | Bodo Ramelow | 42 / 90 | 42 / 90 | 42 / 90 |
| | Björn Höcke | 22 / 90 | 22 / 90 | Did not run |
| | Against | N/A | N/A | 23 / 90 |
| | Abstentions | 26 / 90 | 26 / 90 | 20 / 90 |

## Composition

| Portfolio | Senator | Party | Took office | Left office | State secretaries |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Minister-President | Bodo Ramelow born (1956-02-19) 19 February 1956 (age 67) | LINKE | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | |
| First Deputy Minister-President | Georg Maier born (1967-04-25) 25 April 1967 (age 56) | SPD | 31 August 2021 | Incumbent | Udo Götze (Interior) Katharina Schenk (Communities) |
| Minister for Interior and Communities | Georg Maier born (1967-04-25) 25 April 1967 (age 56) | SPD | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Udo Götze (Interior) Katharina Schenk (Communities) |
| Second Deputy Minister-PresidentMinister for Environment, Energy, and Nature Protection | Anja Siegesmund born (1977-01-16) 16 January 1977 (age 46) | GRÜNE | 4 March 2020 | 31 January 2023 | Olaf Möller (until 30 April 2022) Burkhard Vogel (from 1 May 2022) |
| Second Deputy Minister-PresidentMinister for Environment, Energy, and Nature Protection | Bernhard Stengele born (1963-04-23) 23 April 1963 (age 60) | GRÜNE | 1 February 2023 | Incumbent | Burkhard Vogel |
| Minister for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection | Dirk Adams born (1968-05-25) 25 May 1968 (age 55) | GRÜNE | 4 March 2020 | 9 January 2023 | Sebastian von Ammon |
| Minister for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection | Anja Siegesmund (acting) born (1977-01-16) 16 January 1977 (age 46) | GRÜNE | 9 January 2023 | 31 January 2023 | Sebastian von Ammon |
| Minister for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection | Doreen Denstädt (age 45-46) | GRÜNE | 1 February 2023 | incumbent | Meike Herz |
| Minister for Culture, Federal and European Affairs and Chief of the State Chancellery | Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff born (1976-02-17) 17 February 1976 (age 47) | LINKE | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Malte Krückels (Media and Europe, Representative to the Federal Government) Tina Beer (Culture) |
| Minister for Infrastructure and Agriculture (acting) | Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff born (1976-02-17) 17 February 1976 (age 47) | LINKE | 4 March 2020 | 9 September 2021 | Susanna Karawanskij Torsten Weil |
| Minister for Education, Youth and Sport | Helmut Holter born (1953-05-22) 22 May 1953 (age 70) | LINKE | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Winfried Speitkamp |
| Minister for Infrastructure and Agriculture | Susanna Karawanskij born (1980-05-07) 7 May 1980 (age 43) | LINKE | 9 September 2021 | Incumbent | Barbara Schönig Torsten Weil |
| Minister for Finance | Heike Taubert born (1958-11-14) 14 November 1958 (age 64) | SPD | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Hartmut Schubert |
| Minister for Economics, Science and Digital Society | Wolfgang Tiefensee born (1955-01-04) 4 January 1955 (age 68) | SPD | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Carsten Feller (Science, Higher Education and Economics) Katja Böhler (Research, Innovation and Economic Development) |
| First Deputy Minister-President | Wolfgang Tiefensee born (1955-01-04) 4 January 1955 (age 68) | SPD | 4 March 2020 | 31 August 2021 | Carsten Feller (Science and Higher Education) Valentina Kerst (Economics and Digital Society) |
| Minister for Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Women and Family | Heike Werner born (1969-05-30) 30 May 1969 (age 54) | LINKE | 4 March 2020 | Incumbent | Ines Feierabend |
