German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the election of a liberal leader in eastern Germany with help from the far-right AfD party is “unforgivable” and must be reversed.
Thomas Kemmerich of the liberal FDP became premier of Thuringia after the AfD, in a surprise move, voted for him.
The situation is being described as a political earthquake, as the mainstream parties have always refused to do deals with Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The AfD has broad support in Thuringia.
But the state election in October was won by the far-left Die Linke, whose leader Bodo Ramelow was ousted in Wednesday’s vote.
Speaking on a visit to South Africa, Chancellor Merkel said the Thuringia vote had to be reversed – implying that the state election would have to be re-run.
The Free Democrats (FDP) leader, Christian Lindner, was heading to the state capital Erfurt on Thursday for urgent talks with Mr Kemmerich, who is under intense pressure to quit. He has refused to step down so far.
Some have compared the AfD’s surprise move to the Nazis’ rise to power and there were protests in several German cities after the election.
In 1930 a Nazi entered the Thuringia government – the party’s first big breakthrough in the Weimar Republic, culminating in Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933.
bbc