Mass resignations hit a minor populist party in eastern Germany on Friday, threatening the stability of the state government in Thuringia, just two days before closely watched elections in neighbouring Saxony-Anhalt.
Nine lawmakers from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which has been part of the governing coalition in the state since late 2024, announced their resignations from the party after months of internal feuding.
"We were not elected to engage in endless navel-gazing, we were not elected to wage constant defensive battles, and we were not elected to put up with flirtations with the far right," said Katja Wolf, Thuringia's vice premier.
Wolf added that she would continue to support the conservative-led state administration under Premier Mario Voigt, who insisted his government was intact.
The dramatic resignations follow a long-running dispute between the BSW's chapter in Thuringia and party founder Sahra Wagenknecht, who called on her party colleagues to withdraw from the state government.
The BSW emerged as a splinter group from The Left in 2024 and quickly gained traction in eastern Germany with its socially conservative positions and populist economic programme.
However, the party narrowly missed out on entering the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, in the 2025 elections, and has since been undermined by internal bickering.
The latest developments come two days before the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt holds closely watched elections, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) seeking to lead a state government for the first time.
Wagenknecht has positioned the BSW as a potential kingmaker in Saxony-Anhalt, rejecting the mainstream parties' "firewall" against cooperation with the far right, but polling suggests the party is unlikely to garner the 5% of the vote needed to secure seats in parliament.