Overview

• Thomas Kemmerich said the Free Democrats had squandered their future by clinging to the traffic‑light coalition and making central mistakes on migration policy.
• He confirmed his move to Frauke Petry’s Team Freiheit and said the project should serve as a counter‑model to established parties.
• He plans election lists of non‑party candidates with life experience and professional expertise rather than traditional party slates.
• He criticized what he called a sick party apparatus that consumes time maintaining itself instead of focusing on governance.
• Kemmerich’s standing has been fraught since his brief 2020 tenure as Thuringia’s minister‑president elected with CDU, AfD and FDP votes, which led to his quick resignation and strained ties with the federal FDP.