The German parliament failed to complete one of its more important constitutional tasks on Friday: The planned vote on three vacant positions of the panel of judges in the Constitutional Court was removed from the agenda at short notice. The reason: It became apparent that at least one of the candidates, jurist and professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, might not receive enough votes.

Since the governing parties, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), do not command a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, they are dependent on support from the opposition for votes affecting the court. 

This was not supposed to have been a problem, as the opposition Greens and the Left Party had signaled that they would vote for the SPD-nominated Brosius-Gersdorf. But then it became clear that some CDU members would not — especially because of her liberal stance on abortion. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second biggest faction in the parliament, had already made clear they were vehemently opposed to her nomination — unsurprisingly, as she had also suggested she would be in favor of banning the party if the necessary legal requirements were fulfilled.

AfD: 'This judge is unacceptable'

A few hours before the planned vote, the CDU demanded that the SPD withdraw Brosius-Gersdorf's nomination, citing new allegations that she might have plagiarized her PhD dissertation in 1997, which left-wing politicians see as spurious. As a result, the Bundestag session was interrupted and, after crisis talks, the Bundestag voted to postpone all three scheduled elections.

The AfD voted against the postponement, with its parliamentary secretary, Bernd Baumann, calling for an immediate vote: "This judge is unacceptable, and the proposal has severely damaged the reputation of the Constitutional Court," he said.

Heidi Reichinnek, head of the Left Party parliamentary group, blamed the CDU for the parliamentary impasse: "You are playing party political power games here and once again causing absolute chaos." The leader of the Green Party, Britta Hasselmann, shared this view: "Today is a bad day for parliament, for democracy, and for the Federal Constitutional Court."

'Smear campaign?'

During the debate, SPD member Dirk Wiese spoke of a "smear campaign" against a highly respected constitutional lawyer. This prompted Gottfried Curio of the AfD to interject by dismissing Brosius-Gersdorf as a "left-wing extremist" — earning himself a reprimand from the parliamentary presidium for his trouble.

Steffen Bilger of the CDU said that the long-standing practice of nominating and electing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court had proven its worth. "That is why we are a stable democracy," he said. However, he warned, the election should not be the subject of a heated political debate.

At the same time, he reiterated the CDU's reservations about Brosius-Gersdorf: Candidates for the Constitutional Court must be above any professional doubt. "And in our view, that is no longer entirely the case," Bilger said.

The judicial pillar of the German state

The Federal Constitutional Court is one of Germany's five organs of state. The other four are the lower house of parliament (Bundestag), the upper house of parliament (Bundesrat), which represents the state governments, the federal president, and the federal government. Together, they ensure the separation of powers, one of the core principles of a democratic society.

The Constitutional Court's role in this system is to safeguard Germany's constitution, known as the Basic Law. Half of the 16 judges are elected by the Bundestag, while the Bundesrat elects the other half. A two-thirds majority is required in each case. If this is achieved, the federal president officially appoints the successful candidates as new members of the court.

The state institutions are closely entwined in this election, which is why the parties represented in parliament, who nominate candidates for the court, are particularly dependent on coordination. 

Greens see 'serious crisis' in governing coalition

It is still unclear when the postponed election of three judges will be held. The parliamentary summer recess is scheduled to begin this week and last until September. However, the Greens are already calling for a special session of the Bundestag next week, out of respect for the candidates and for the Federal Constitutional Court.

"We cannot accept a stalemate over the summer, in which the country is left in the dark about whether we still have a stable government," the two Green parliamentary leaders, Britta Hasselmann and Katharina Dröge, said in a statement. "The canceled election to the Federal Constitutional Court has plunged the coalition into a serious crisis."

This fear is apparently shared by Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil of the SPD. "When there are controversial votes, there must also be leadership and responsibility, and that must be demonstrated," he demanded in the Bundestag, though without overtly pointing any accusatory fingers at the conservative party with which he governs.

This article was translated from German.

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