Thuringian state election, 2004

• PDS: 28
• SPD: 15
• CDU: 45

The state elections in Thuringia in 2004 was the election for the fourth Thuringian state parliament since the founding of the country in 1990. She found together with the 2004 European election held on 13 June 2004.

The CDU under Dieter Althaus, who had only a year earlier assumed the office of Prime Minister by Bernhard Vogel was able to defend their absolute majority of seats in short supply.

Result

The CDU, which had first won an absolute majority in parliament in the previous state election in 1999, lost four seats and now had only two MPs over the opposition parties (45 of 88 seats). The biggest winner of the election was the PDS, which was back in 1999 has become the second largest political force in the country and their lead over the SPD was now able to expand again. She reached in all constituencies gains and won five of the 44 directly elected seats, including two each in the two largest cities of Erfurt and Gera. 1999 were all gone direct mandates to the candidate of the CDU.

Also, Alliance 90/The Greens and FDP, which were not represented in Parliament since 1994, reached in all constituencies gains and increased their respective votes compared to 1999, where both parties had received only 1.9 and 1.1% of the vote, more than double. However, both failed again at the five-percent hurdle.

The DVU, which combines 1999 or 3.1% of the vote and had thus become fourth-strongest political force in the country in 2004 did not start.

With Matthias Bärwolff (PDS ), a 18 -year-old high school graduates, the hitherto youngest member was elected to Parliament.

Follow

The 4th Thuringian Parliament was opened on 8 July 2004 by the 65 -year-old interim president Siegfried Jaschke ( CDU). The Diet Dieter Althaus re-elected as prime minister, who then appointed the Cabinet Althaus II. New President of the parliament was the former Thuringian Minister of Science, Research and the Arts, Dagmar Schipanski ( CDU).