Brandenburg, Germany – German Social Democratic (SPD) politician Dietmar Woidke was re-elected to another term as premier of the eastern state of Brandenburg on Wednesday.
Woidke, who has held the office since 2013, will now head a coalition between the SPD and the insurgent populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a self-described “left conservative” party founded by a former communist which split from the left-wing The Left party earlier this year.
The SPD has governed Brandenburg continuously since 1990, when the first post-communist free elections were held in the state, which had been part of the former East Germany.
He had previously governed in a coalition with the Greens and the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), but that alliance fell short of a majority in September elections due to losses by both the coalition partners.
Woidke required a second ballot in Brandenburg’s state parliament on Wednesday to secure re-election because of the refusal of a BSW lawmaker to support him.
The BSW has criticized Germany’s membership in the NATO alliance and support for Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion, and the rogue BSW lawmaker said he could not support Woidke because of a planned deployment of Arrow 3 air defence systems at an air base in Brandenburg.
The coalition deal between the SPD and BSW calls for efforts to maintain hospitals in the state, make nurseries free of charge for parents, increase the number of police officers and curb illegal migration.
At the insistence of the BSW, the coalition agreement also commits to working toward a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, even though Germany’s 16 federal states hold very little power over foreign policy matters.