On 27 October, German citizens went to the polls to elect the new members of the regional Parliament of Thuringia.

While the extreme right and left obtained the highest number of votes, ALDE Party member Freie Demokratische Partei (FDP) successfully entered the Parliament by only five votes after obtaining 5.0005% of the vote share.

This is a clear victory for liberals, as for the first time in 10 years a liberal party is represented in Eastern Germany and a blow for both traditional parties CDU and SPD that obtained major losses.

Following the election, FDP is now represented in 11 out of the 16 regions in Germany, which demonstrates the increase in the liberal presence across the country.

On the results, FDP top candidate in Thuringia, Thomas Kemmerich expressed the double effect of this win: “Only with the FDP in the State Parliament can red-red-green be terminated. Only with the FDP will the way be cleared for a more modern, progressive and, at the same time, more sensible policy,” and added: "Democracy is when every vote counts."

Party leader Christian Lindner said on a press release: “We could succeed in something that we have not been able to do for ten years, namely to be successful in an East German state election”. (see full press release in German here).

https://twitter.com/fdp/status/1188502414166560769?s=20