German leader in office for a day may get €93,000
The ousted German regional leader who was backed by the far right AfD stands to collect at least €93,000 ($102,000; £79,000) in salary and allowances for just one day in office.
The RND (Editor Network Germany) news group says the figure was confirmed by state officials in Thuringia.
Liberal FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich resigned on Thursday, a day after MPs in Thuringia elected him premier in a shock win engineered by the AfD.
Many German politicians were outraged.
Chancellor Angela Merkel called the vote in the eastern state “unforgivable” and said it must be reversed.
No replacement has been chosen yet for Mr Kemmerich. There are calls for fresh regional elections in Thuringia, but Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) are resisting that option.
The CDU and its coalition partner in the national government, the Social Democrats (SPD), will hold crisis talks at the weekend.
It is the first time in post-war Germany that a leader has been helped into office by the far right. Mainstream parties officially oppose any deals with the AfD, which has grown to become the main opposition party.
More on Germany’s AfD
RND reports that the Thuringia premier gets a base monthly salary of €16,617 gross, plus €766 in allowances.
In addition, as a married man Mr Kemmerich is entitled to a €153 family allowance, making a total of €17,537.
Under Thuringia law, one day in office is treated the same as a month, and Mr Kemmerich is also entitled to a six-month transitional allowance after stepping down.
For the first three months that allowance would be paid in full, and in half for the next three months.
RND reports that his transitional allowance alone would total €75,468.
Ordinary MPs in the Thuringia parliament get a monthly base salary of €5,803. In addition, they get up to €2,782 in monthly allowances, Germany’s Die Welt reports.
So the typical income of a Thuringia MP for a day’s work, not counting expenses, is €290, and that of a national Bundestag MP is €500.
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