The German Bundestag has voted to remove all three elections for judges of the Federal Constitutional Court from the agenda. The motion, passed on Friday, secured a majority of parliamentarians.
The decision follows a period of significant contention surrounding the nominations, with comparisons drawn to the intensely debated appointments of constitutional judges in the United States and Poland. Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD faction, Dirk Wiese, specifically highlighted a recent “campaign of disinformation” directed at the candidate, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf.
Bernd Baumann, parliamentary secretary of the AfD faction, criticized the government, characterizing the situation as indicative of “absolute instability”. His party opposed the postponement of the elections, urging the center-right CDU/CSU (the Union) to clearly define its position.
Britta Haßelmann, parliamentary group leader of the Green Party, primarily blamed Jens Spahn, leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, for the chaotic circumstances. She described the events as an unprecedented “disaster” in the history of constitutional court judge elections.
Heidi Reichinnek, parliamentary group leader of the Left Party, emphasized the responsibility of parliamentarians toward the Constitutional Court, arguing for the need to equip the judges with a clear parliamentary majority. Reichinnek accused Spahn of engaging in “partisan power plays” and aligning with the AfD due to the Union’s failure to seek alternative majorities for their proposed candidates, stating that they were effectively handing these individuals and democratic institutions over to the far-right.
Earlier on Friday, the Union informed the SPD of its intention to postpone the election of Brosius-Gersdorf while still voting on its own candidate, Günter Spinner and the SPD’s nominee, Ann-Katrin Kaufhold. However, the Social Democrats ultimately rejected this split approach. Steffen Bilger (CDU) expressed regret at this decision.
The reasoning provided by the Union for the postponement, according to reports, did not focus on previously criticized viewpoints such as their stance on abortion rights, but rather on newly emerged allegations of plagiarism.
The SPD had nominated Brosius-Gersdorf for the position. Despite the criticisms from the Union’s ranks, the Union’s leader, Friedrich Merz, had previously affirmed in the Bundestag that he could reconcile his conscience with her election. Other leading figures within the Union had also publicly advocated for her appointment until recently.