The former conservative leader violated her duty of political neutrality
Germany’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday reprimanded former Chancellor Angela Merkel for publicly criticizing the ultra-nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2020 and thereby violating her duty of political neutrality. With her statements at the time, the former head of the German government violated the right to equal opportunities of the extreme right party. Merkel described as “unforgivable” the controversial February 2020 election as prime minister of Thuringia of liberal Thomas Kemmerich with votes from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Party (FDP) and the AfD populists. The highest German court had to hear two complaints related to the case, the first against Merkel for her statements and the second against the publication of her words on official websites. The second senate of the German constitutional court has already considered the issue at a hearing on June 21, 2021, but it took almost a year to publish its verdict, resulting in 5 votes to three.
With her statements from public office, the former conservative leader “negatively qualified the applicant and unilaterally influenced competition between political parties,” according to the judges of the Karlsruhe court. This interference with the right to equal participation in the formation of political will “is not justified by the Federal Chancellor’s duty to guarantee the stability of the federal government or to protect the image of the Federal Republic in the community of states”, underlines the sentence . The Constitutional Council also admonished the publication on the official website of the then federal chancellor and the federal government of those criticisms for misusing resources that are the exclusive domain of the head of government and his cabinet. By spreading their negative assessment of the ultra-nationalist party in this way, Merkel and the federal government have “violated that party’s right to participate in political competition on an equal footing,” the court said.
The case stems from the vote on 5 February 2020 in the Erfurt regional parliament for the election of the prime minister of Thuringia, a position left-wing politician Bodo Ramelow ran for re-election but failed to secure a majority. in the first two rounds. In the third and unexpectedly, Kemerich defeated Ramelow by one vote with the support of the CDU and Alternative for Germany. It was the first and only time so far that the AfD helped a politician from outside its ranks to be elected prime minister of a federal state. Completely isolated from the rest of the political formations, the ultra-nationalists caused a major political scandal in Germany. Merkel, who was on a trip to South Africa, responded to a press conference the following day by stressing that she would make a “comment” for reasons of “domestic politics”. An unusual decision, as German government leaders never discuss national politics during their foreign travels.
The former Christian Democrat leader then spoke of a unique case where her party had broken one of its principles by supporting parliamentary majorities with the help of the AfD. The result of the vote in Erfurt “must be reversed,” Merkel said at the time, in addition to demanding that the CDU in no way participate in a government that would have the support of the ultranationalists. “It has been a bad day for democracy,” said the then head of the German government. Statements that were immediately published on its official website and those of the federal executive. Then-AfD President Jörg Meuthen accused Merkel of “trying to delegitimize an election to a regional chamber in the exercise of his position as Chancellor.” Under enormous pressure from his own party and the rest of the democratic formations, the liberal Kemmerich resigned from office three days later and Ramelow was re-elected as prime minister again.
It is not the first time that the ultranationalists have succeeded with their demands before the German Constitutional Court. In the past, judges also agreed with them in a complaint against former federal interior minister Christian Socialist Horst Seehofer for publishing excerpts from a critical interview about the AfD and his former colleague on his official website. At the Ministry of Education, Christian Democrat Johanna Wanka was also reprimanded by Germany’s highest court for demanding a “red card” for Alternative for Germany in an official statement. Germany’s constitutional judges have once again made it clear that public criticism of the AfD can be made, but they must respect the principle of state neutrality when occupying a position in the federal government.
Source: La Verdad
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