Thuringia Governor Dieter Althaus, who is a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel in the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), stepped down on Thursday four days after the CDU suffered a disappointing result in key state elections. 

"I am stepping down as governor of Thuringia and chair of the Thuringia branch of the CDU with immediate effect," he announced at a press conference on Thursday. He did not give any further explanation of his decision.

In deciding to step down, the 51-year-old politician is reacting to demands from his own party and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) not to stand in the way of a CDU-SPD coalition in Thuringia's state assembly. In Sunday's election in the eastern German state, the CDU's share of the vote slumped by 11.8 points to 31.2 percent. The party has lost its absolute majority in the state for the first time in 10 years and now requires a coalition partner  if it is to stay in power. Its only realistic option is to join forces with the SPD.

Leading politicians in the Thuringia branch of the SPD had made Althaus's resignation a condition for working together. The two parties are to meet this Saturday for exploratory talks. The SPD is also meeting Friday with the left-wing Left Party, which came second in the election with an impressive 27.4 percent of the vote, for talks about a possible coalition. Althaus has come under increasing pressure to resign in the last few days.