 Though Böhme failed to acknowledge this, he agreed to suspend his party functions (he was later expelled from the party in 1992).On 8 April 1990, Meckel was chosen as the interim chairman, until an extraordinary meeting in Halle (Saale) on 9 June 1990 elected Wolfgang Thierse as the new party chairman.At the same time, Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of West Germany and honorary chairman of the West German SPD, was elected as honorary chairman of the East German SPD as well.