BSW federal leadership orders Thuringia parliamentary group to leave 'blackberry coalition', faction faces split

The blackberry coalition in Erfurt must be ended immediately, according to a new order from the BSW federal leadership. Leading Thuringian party members refuse to comply.

Published: August 15, 2026, 14:38 UTC

Strife in paradise: BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht and – in the background – Thuringia's state chairwoman Katja Wolf. Photo: Martin Schutt/dpa

By Rainer Rutz

The federal leadership of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance is pursuing maximum confrontation in Thuringia. In a resolution from Berlin, the BSW parliamentary group in the Erfurt state parliament is now being called upon to leave the so-called blackberry coalition with the CDU and SPD. On Monday, the 15-member parliamentary group will meet to discuss the resolution of the BSW party executive board.

Observers do not rule out that this could lead to a showdown between the pragmatists around Thuringia's BSW state chairwoman and finance minister Katja Wolf and the Wagenknecht guard, causing the parliamentary group to break apart. Around a third of the MPs are considered loyal to the party's Berlin politburo. And its resolution is unmistakable.

Trigger: The Voigt Doctorate Controversy

The trigger for the current stirring up of the long-simmering conflicts in the Thuringian BSW is the doctorate of CDU Minister-President Mario Voigt – or more precisely, Voigt's no-longer doctorate. This week, Chemnitz University of Technology confirmed that it had rejected an objection by Voigt against the revocation that took place at the beginning of the year.

Politburo Cannot Be Stopped

Since then, the BSW federal executive board around the chairpersons Amira Mohamed Ali and Fabio De Masi, but above all party founder Sahra Wagenknecht, have been unstoppable. Addressed to their own ranks in Thuringia, the current resolution states:

"The BSW must not become the majority maker for a man who puts his personal interests above the welfare of the state."

It is therefore expected of the BSW parliamentary group in the Thuringian state parliament "that it will no longer support Mario Voigt and will support the path for a non-partisan minister-president who governs with changing majorities, also in Thuringia."

The "non-partisan minister-president" is a fixed idea of Wagenknecht, who has been leading the BSW Basic Values Commission – mockingly referred to by internal party critics as "Sahra's Council of Guardians" – since the end of last year.

AfD Offer Rejected

Apart from the Wagenknecht ultras, no one had wanted anything to do with her model of a "citizens' government" with a "non-partisan" at the top, including the other parties. That has changed since Friday – at least, if one takes a letter from the Thuringian AfD state and parliamentary group chairman seriously.

The head of the state association classified as definitely right-wing extremist wrote an open love letter to the Thuringian BSW parliamentary group, in which he called on the MPs:

"Let us jointly search for an independent personality who has the authority to unite the country and can gather a majority behind them in the Thuringian state parliament."

Schütz and Wolf Stand by the Coalition

"We will not be searching for anyone," says Thuringia's BSW Infrastructure Minister Steffen Schütz in response. He, for one, intends to refrain from this "offer of assistance."

Speaking to ZDF, Schütz then also defended the coalition of CDU, BSW, and SPD. He experiences the government as a "team that really gets things done." He noted the resolution of the Berlin party leadership "with dismay."

Schütz was even sharper in the Tagesspiegel, telling them:

"With their dangerous course, Wagenknecht, De Masi, and Mohamed Ali are crossing boundaries without any internal party discussion and will formation that I am no longer willing to tolerate."

Calls for Party Purge

On the other side, calls for a party purge have long been circulating among the die-hard advocates of the pure anti-government doctrine. In particular, Steffen Schütz and Finance Minister Katja Wolf are in the crosshairs.