(Translated from German using Google Translate.)

How much space do you currently have in your calendar?

We are currently clearing a number of things so that we can hold discussions, for example about the constitution of the state parliament. A number of other discussions are taking place around this, for example the preparation of the budget for 2025.

CDU leader Voigt has already spoken to you about the budget - or you to him. Has he also called you with a view to your party‘s role in forming a government?

No, that will be discussed at the level of the party leaders.

In the past, Voigt always wanted to talk to you.

I have asked that what is now pending be clarified at the party level, and these discussions are currently taking place.

How do you assess the election result in Thuringia after a few days?

I maintain that the high voter turnout was an expression of a day of celebration for democracy. It is a strong sign that many non-voters went to the polls, even though I know that a large proportion of them voted for the AfD. The AfD performed a function and mobilized non-voters. I acknowledge that with respect.

You are currently normalizing the AfD.

Absolutely not. I differentiate between the basic democratic decision to vote and the consequences that I then have to deal with politically.

You wanted to get the AfD below 30 percent. Why did you not achieve that as the leading candidate of the Left Party?

I was not able to get across the contradiction that if people don‘t want Höcke, they shouldn‘t vote for the AfD either. I can‘t blame anyone else for that. But it is evident that the frustration of people who can no longer stand the way politics generally treats them was the deciding factor.

The AfD is part of this policy.

A good 30 percent of people here perceive it as the answer. When I look at the talks between the traffic light coalition and the CDU in Berlin and see that the only thing they are talking about is who picked their nose and when, then that is terrible. People can‘t stand the arguing anymore. They are fed up with that.

What do people want to hear instead?

We are all faced with the question of how political communication can still be successful. You as the media too. We can see that there is not much left to do with the way we traditionally present politics. What is being pushed out on WhatsApp or Telegram shapes the debate. And anyone who is not on TikTok is no longer reaching young people.

Are you serious?

Of course. Whether we like it or not. Swipe, swipe, swipe on TikTok is simply the world we are currently moving in. „Temu“ and „Shein“ are currently taking over the entire retail sector. When I first saw an ad for „Shein“ on my „Candy Crush“ game, I wanted to know what it was and then quickly realized that it is the largest textile retailer in the world. The environment is brought to its knees by such things. They send ten to 15 large planes full of goods from China to Germany every day, but have zero logistics here.

What do you want to say?

It‘s very simple. In the digital orbit, let‘s stay with „Candy Crush“, I also saw advertising from our state development company at some point. Someone had understood it. We have to go where the young people are. This also applies to politics.

What level do you have to get to on Candy Crush to see LEG advertising?

(Laughs) I can‘t tell you. I know that I‘m at 3500 and am therefore probably the undefeated king...

...of the Prime Minister‘s Conference. Let‘s get back to real life. What do you expect from the CDU?

That Mario Voigt leads coalition talks and forms a coalition. I have offered my help if it is needed.

What does the help look like in concrete terms?

At least not in the way some journalists are speculating. Because of you, I had to run around for three days and deny that I was leaving the Left Party.

That wasn‘t the question. But while we‘re at it. How many votes do you need to govern?

The 44 votes that the CDU, BSW and SPD have are enough.

One of us cannot do the math if we assume stable majorities, which you have always campaigned for.

I said that I can no longer recommend a minority government to the state. The state parliament has 88 votes, 44 is half. The CDU, BSW and SPD would unite. That would not be a minority government. I governed for four years with 42 votes, that was a minority government. And the election of the Prime Minister is also very simple. Voigt gets 44 votes, Höcke 32 and Ramelow 12, and if that happens, Voigt would be elected in the third round.

The stalemate in the state parliament remains.

No.

Of course.

No. Mr. Voigt can take over the government if he is elected. He introduces the bills and 44 votes will always be enough. Unless the Left Party votes cursorily with the AfD.

We don‘t expect that to happen.

Correct. We want to work constructively with the Democrats. We won‘t go along with everything, but we will behave constructively, we are twelve MPs.

So the Left Party will go along with everything that this potential government produces under the radar.

No. Because 44 votes are enough to get Mr. Voigt into office. He can then govern and the CDU can even be grateful to me again for defending the third round of voting, as it is still written in the constitution. It is now settled and I probably won‘t have to listen to people telling me I‘m stupid any longer.

But at least I‘m resentful.

Well, I had already helped to get Christine Lieberknecht into office out of civic duty. And if Mike Mohring had stood up and run for office himself in 2020, we would have been spared the whole Kemmerich disaster in the third round of voting.

A majority of the CDU, BSW and the Left is also possible.

If the CDU says it wants 50 votes, then that would be the constellation. Of course, the whole absurdity of the CDU‘s incompatibility resolution could also be resolved with a red-red-red constellation. Because we cannot tolerate them, but the Union could tolerate us. Either way. The CDU only lost ground in Thuringia with its incompatibility resolution.

There is no one with Bodo Ramelow?

But I am not privatizing. Bodo Ramelow only exists with the Left faction.

What is your preferred solution of the three coalition options presented?

The one with 44 votes.

What are your party leaders talking about with the CDU then?

About how we get parliamentary operations going. After all, we first have to elect a state parliament president and a lot more.

Will you vote for an AfD state parliament president?

No. I cannot recommend that this parliament grant the AfD the role of parliamentary president. I say that very fundamentally, because according to Thuringia‘s rules of procedure, this parliamentary president has the power to shape things and democracy would not tolerate identitarians, of which there are plenty in Mr Höcke‘s circle, coming anywhere close to having the power to shape things. The president does not just run the state parliament‘s business. He exercises house rules, public order and police powers, hires or fires employees in the administration; he is, so to speak, all-powerful.

Your suggestion?

My suggestion is that the next state parliament president comes from the CDU. It is the strongest democratic force in parliament. The AfD will then once again assume the role of victim and start screaming about a stolen election. But it confuses the fact that 30 percent alone is not a majority, and in a democracy you need a majority to be able to shape things.

How do you imagine the constructive work of the Left Party faction?

There may be issues where we take an initiative on the kindergarten year, for example, and there is ultimately a majority. We would put a hard stop to the elimination of free kindergarten years. We do not want there to be a tie with the AfD for opposing reasons. Then you also have to consider whether to not take part in a vote. The CDU did the same when the AfD voted no confidence in me.

You just translated „structural behavior“?

We can reliably agree with each other that we will ensure that a democratic state government can fulfill its tasks even without a tolerance framework. Even if there are things that we do not like. Then we will make that clear as a faction.

You would not vote for an AfD state parliament president, you have already said that. But what about a vice president?

I think that the AfD should be given positions that are appropriate for it in parliament, and I am in favor of a very calm approach.

Which positions do you mean?

Committee chairperson, vice president, but definitely not the Parliamentary Control Commission. I cannot recommend that they be given insight into the workings of the secret service that is monitoring them, and that the person being monitored then controls the observer.

Does your statement on positions apply to all AfD parliamentary group members?

No. Where people like Mr. Höcke, who shouts SA slogans, are already in contradiction with the position, that is not possible. This applies to all parliamentary group members at the latest in the control commission.

Is there any constellation in which you would seriously try to remain in office as prime minister?

No, not even in the red-red-red variant. My job now is to organize a proper handover.

And if the country needs you and no one can form a coalition?

I can only really leave here if Mr. Voigt does his job. Until then, I will remain in office as acting minister after the state parliament is constituted.

Keyword: petrified government: will all ministers stay on board?

Yes, I asked everyone and everyone indicated to me that they want to do their job to the end.

Your party needs a new federal chairman. Who should do that?

I heard that Jan van Aken and Ines Schwerdtner have now signed up as a double pack. I think that‘s good and exciting.

Jan van Aken recently announced publicly that in Thuringia it can no longer be a question of having enough teachers and enough police officers and that this country functions, but that everything must be subordinated to the „fight against fascism“.

I think having good teachers and police officers is also important in the fight against fascism. What would be really fatal is if „Mein Kampf“ was suddenly read during cancelled school lessons.

You don‘t want to do it yourself? You‘ll have time soon.

You said it yourself: I‘m a petrified prime minister for now. My limbs are soooo heavy, it won‘t work.