Federal Constitutional Court: No quick solution in the dispute over judge election

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) did not promise a quick solution in the coalition dispute over to filling the Federal Constitutional Court. “There is no time pressure now, we don’t have to decide today and not tomorrow,” said Merz in the ARD “summer interview”. At the same time, Merz faced Union faction leader Jens Spahn (CDU).

When asked whether Spahn was still the right man on the post, Merz said: “Clearly yes.” The processes had increased the pressure on Spahn after it has already got on the defensive as a health minister due to masses that were too much ordered too much. The former CDU Prime Minister of the Saarland and constitutional judge Peter Müller told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that it “is” primarily with the parliamentary group leader “.

The last week of the Bundestag ended in a dispute on Friday before the summer break. The elections of SPD candidate Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf and two other new judges for Karlsruhe were discontinued at short notice because the pressure against the Potsdam constitutional lawyer in the Union had become too great. The group management was no longer able to guarantee the support agreed with the coalition partner.

Steinmeier sees the coalition damaged

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on the parties of the Democratic Mitte to quickly add up their dispute. “I very much hope that this will succeed, because this is about the authority and functionality of the constitutional court, we have to receive them,” said Steinmeier in the summer interview of the ZDF program “Berlin Direct”.

“In any case, the coalition has damaged itself,” said the Federal President. “Of course this also moves to the authority of parliament,” said Steinmeier. However, the court is not yet damaged.

Merz wants to speak to SPD in peace

Regarding the proposal from the SPD that the controversial Brosius-Gersdorf could ask the Union’s questions, said Merz: “I will discuss this with the SPD in peace.” The Chancellor assured: “We will try to get good majorities for the next round.” That was not nice on Friday, but that is not a crisis of democracy, no government crisis. ”

Merz also said: “The whole thing is undramatic.” However, the Chancellor regretted that not two undisputed candidates for the Federal Constitutional Court had not been elected.

“Of course we could have seen in the past that there is great resentment,” admitted Merz. “But that really no broken leg.” Taking Spahn under protection said Merz that the resistance in the Union faction was “not foreseeable in this form”. There were also reservations against this choice in the SPD.

Spahn is coordinated by critics that the planned judge election was only discontinued after an Austrian plagiarism examiner published parallels between Brosius-Gersdorf’s doctoral thesis and the habilitation thesis of her husband the day before.

Brosius-Gersdorf’s former University of Hamburg is not enough to take a review. The CDU member of the Bundestag Thomas Bareiß told the “Tagesspiegel”: In order to protect the candidate as a person, he would have liked his party and fraction management in the question of a plagiarism allegation “a little more reluctance”.

SPD wants to stick to candidate

SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch had found in an outraged personal explanation: “We stick to our candidates. I expect the majority.” The SPD had brought into play by the Union that Brosius-Gersdorf could be heard by the Union after the broken judge election at an internal switching conference. Brosius-Gersdorf has not yet commented.

Further Union resistance against SPD candidate

There is still resistance to the candidate in the Union. “If I were in a position of Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, I would ask myself whether I maintained my candidacy,” said CDU MP Tilman Kuban to the “Tagesspiegel”. “It is also the responsibility to avert further damage from the Federal Constitutional Court.” Cuban attested the SPD “inconsistency and uncompromising”.

The parliamentary manager Steffen Bilger (CDU) told the German Press Agency: “Now everyone should come down a little and then we will discuss the further procedure with the SPD in peace.” CSU state group leader Alexander Hoffmann told the dpa that the coalition was responsible for agreeing to a joint candidate package. “This includes taking time now and not getting lost.”

Doubts about the obligation to vaccinate and abortions

Reservations against the 54-year-old Brosius-Gersdorf are justified from a conservative side, among other things, that it is said to have written about abortion: “There are good reasons why the deception of the deception only applies from birth.” At Corona, she was also for an obligation to vaccinate and in the dispute over the headscarf for legal trainees against the neutrality requirement of the constitutional court.

Federal Constitutional Court election committee