The Süddeutsche: ‘[Ulrich] Siegmund had recently announced that he fully expected to secure the necessary absolute majority in the first round of voting in December. However, with 39 members, the AfD parliamentary group is three votes short of that majority. The state parliament has 83 members, meaning that 42 votes are required. Since the Alliance for Social Justice and Economic Reason (BSW) intends to abstain in this secret ballot, Siegmund would need three votes from other members of parliament.’

And: ‘In 2018, at a party conference, the CDU decided to reject coalitions and similar forms of cooperation with both the AfD and Die Linke. As party chairman, Merz has repeatedly insisted that this resolution of incompatibility must be upheld. Within the party, however, there is uncertainty about how to deal with suspected dissenters, who have so far not revealed themselves either.’

The CDU dissidents are secret AfD supporters.

(a sf 2254)