Debt brake: Left takes Lindner to Constitutional Court

The Left Party is suing Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) before the Federal Constitutional Court. The reason is two newspaper advertisements advertising the debt brake, valued at almost 38,000 euros, which the ministry placed in May and June before the European elections. The Left Party believes that this violates its right to equal opportunities in party competition. The “Spiegel” was the first to report on this. The application to the court in Karlsruhe is also available to the German Press Agency.

The Left Party justified its move in its letter to the Constitutional Court by saying that the federal government and individual ministers are prohibited from using official resources to specifically influence public perception and thus party competition. Otherwise, there would be a significant competitive disadvantage for those parties that do not have any officials themselves and therefore have no access to state resources.

The Left has repeatedly spoken out against the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law and is calling for its abolition in order, as it itself argues, to enable greater state investment, for example in infrastructure. The FDP, on the other hand, is in favor of the debt brake.

Lindner said of the advertisements on June 5 in the ARD program “Maischberger” that they were a reminder that exactly 15 years ago the debt brake was included in the Basic Law. He spoke of a “contribution to political education” that draws attention to “the fact that the debt brake is our insurance for intergenerational justice.”