Ugly coalition quarrel forces delay to election of top German judges

A confirmation vote for judges to Germany's top court has been postponed in the German parliament after a major dispute erupted within Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government on Friday.

The appointment of new judges to the country's Constitutional Court, due to be decided on Friday, was delayed by a special motion in the Bundestag, the country's lower house of parliament.

The stunning developments came after Merz's conservative bloc withdrew its support for a candidate from the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), its partner in government.

The candidate, law professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, attracted criticism from conservatives over her views on abortion and her support for mandatory vaccination during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite grumbles within Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CDU), her election seemed all but secured after Merz signalled his support for her nomination earlier this week.

But in a surprise move early on Friday, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group said it would abstain, leaving the SPD candidate well short of the required two-thirds majority.

Sources from the centre-right bloc cited a plagiarism allegation against Brosius-Gersdorf that surfaced on Thursday. The professor and her universities are yet to respond to a request for comment.

The decision prompted fury from opposition parties and led the SPD to confirm it would oppose holding confirmation votes for all three judges to the court on Friday, resulting in the postponement.

Furore after days of tensions

The dispute - which breaks the long-held tradition of consensus-driven appointments to the country's top court - left Merz's coalition government humiliated, only two months after it took office.

Friday marked the last day of business in parliament before the summer recess, meaning the coalition partners will have weeks to stew over the disagreement before a new vote can be held.

Tensions have escalated in recent days over the nomination of the judges to the Karlsruhe-based Constitutional Court, which ensures compliance with the country's de facto constitution, the Basic Law.

Judges are elected to 12-year terms, with an age limit of 68 years old.

The CDU/CSU candidate, Günter Spinner, was locked in his own battle to secure a majority without relying on votes from the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), a move that would break the much-publicized "firewall" on cooperating with the far-right party.

Conservative leaders refused to hold talks with The Left to secure the necessary backing and hinted they would be open to proceeding to a secret vote, which could have left it unclear whether the AfD's support was necessary to Spinner's election.