Erfurt - Germany's struggling Social Democrats (SPD) ruled out a regional hard-left coalition in the state of Thuringia on Thursday, opting to seek an alliance with the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) instead. The decision ended weeks of jostling between possible coalition partners, after Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU lost its absolute majority in the former East German state for the first time in ten years during state elections late August.
The SPD reached a record nationwide low in the country's general election on Sunday, due partly to fears that they might team up with the radical Left Party in years to come.
Thuringia's SPD leadership made the decision to enter into coalition talks with the CDU, the party's state head Christoph Matschie said after discussions that had lasted late into the night.
However, a quarter of Thuringa's 24 SPD board members voted in favour of a so-called red-red-green alliance of SPD, Left Party and Greens, which would have been the first of its kind at German state level.
The Left Party achieved a greater proportion of the vote than the SPD in Thuringia, leading to a row between the two parties over who should appoint the state premier.
The Left Party, grown out of the remains of former East Germany's state communist party, is still viewed with suspicion within the political mainstream, despite its popularity in the eastern states.
The socialist party criticized the SPD's decision, accusing them of never having been serious about their intentions to form a hard-left coalition.
"An honest opposition is preferable to participating in a dishonest state government," said Bodo Ramelow, who had led the negotiations on behalf of the Left Party.
The deputy head of Thuringia's SPD defended the decision, saying there was far more overlap in interests with the CDU than there had been with the Left Party.
Weeks of coalition talks are expected before a state government can be formed.
