Doktortitel-Kampf: Kreise: Voigt will Entzug der Doktorwürde akzeptieren

Thüringens Ministerpräsident Mario Voigt intends to withdraw his lawsuit against the revocation of his doctorate title, according to information from coalition circles. This was confirmed by several members of parliament who were informed about Voigt's decision. The 49-year-old attended the regional party factions of SPD, Thuringian Justice, and CDU before the Landtag session.

Discussions reportedly focused on withdrawing the lawsuit, with Voigt finding himself in a dilemma. On one hand, he wished to defend his scientific work; on the other hand, he recognized that pursuing the title could provide him with a political weapon for attack, Voigt stated at the CDU Landesparteitag in Eisenach. At this event, he was confirmed as the Thuringian CDU Chairman with a positive outcome.

Voigt is accused of having engaged in plagiarism in his 2008 dissertation, "The American Presidential Campaign: George W. Bush vs. John F. Kerry." The Technische Universität Chemnitz revoked his doctorate due to plagiarism allegations. Voigt lost the appeal and appealed to the Verwaltungsgericht Chemnitz. He now appears to be withdrawing the lawsuit before the court reaches a decision.

The opposition AfD faction, led by Björn Höcke, has been applying political pressure on Voigt. The AfD failed in two attempts to vote a no-confidence motion against Voigt this year. Today, the Landtag will decide on a motion to dissolve the parliament, introduced by the AfD. However, a self-dissolution followed by a new election seems unlikely, as it would require a two-thirds majority.