Germany’s consensus-driven parliamentary system has entered a more rough-and-tumble period amid a rise of the political extremes.
| New normal: Fight over controversial judge reflects new era in German politics | | | | BERLIN – A row in the German coalition over a controversial high-court nominee has turned into a test of wills that reflects a new reality in the country's politics.
The coalition government of the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) was set to elect three new judges for the sixteen-member constitutional court in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, on Friday.
But discord over the nomination of Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf – the SPD pick whose liberal views on abortion stirred opposition on the conservative benches – forced the partners to abandon the vote after several dozen Christian Conservative lawmakers threatened to oppose her.
The failed vote is not just a blow to the cohesion of Germany's fledgling coalition, but to the authority of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn, the leader of the conservative parliamentary group, both of whom had signalled they would support Brosius-Gersdorf's nomination.
More broadly, the dissension in the conservative ranks so early in the term signals that the fractious climate that characterised Germany's previous coalition – and ultimately precipitated its collapse – is not, as many voters hoped, over. | | |
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