Merkel: Governor’s election with far-right help ‘inexcusable’

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemns as “inexcusable” the election of a new German state governor with the help of the far-right as well as her own party, and says that the result must not stand.

Wednesday’s surprise election of Thomas Kemmerich, a member of the small pro-business Free Democrats, as governor of the eastern state of Thuringia has turned into a major embarrassment for Germany’s mainstream center-right parties and revived questions about the future of the country’s governing coalition.

Kemmerich narrowly defeated a left-wing incumbent after the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, voted for him instead of its own candidate in the state legislature. Left-leaning parties and many in the center-right camp said that accepting votes from AfD broke a taboo and was unacceptable.

Kemmerich is holding out against mounting pressure to resign.

— AP