Merkel Party Leader Gets Unanimous Backing for Thuringia Plan

(Bloomberg) -- The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party backed off her call for an immediate new election in the eastern state of Thuringia after running into resistance from regional lawmakers.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union, said she had unanimous support from the party’s top leadership to call for a new parliamentary majority in Thuringia with the help from the SPD and Greens -- and to turn to a new election if those efforts fail.

“The focus now will be on establishing clear and stable conditions” in Thuringia, Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters on Friday in Berlin.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt

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