- The sentence refers to the election of the liberal Thomas Kemmerich as prime minister of Thuringia in 2020.
- Angela Merkel speaks out on the Russian invasion of Ukraine after months of silence.
 |
| Angela Merkel |
Angela Merkel broke the obligation to maintain political neutrality when she served as chancellor, affecting the interests of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). This was determined this Wednesday by the German Constitutional Court (TC).
The ruling of the TC refers specifically to the election of the liberal Thomas Kemmerich as Prime Minister of Thuringia on February 5, 2020, with the votes of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Liberal Party (FDP), and the AfD, which Merkel described as "unforgivable" and asked that it be reversed.
With these statements, made from South Africa where she was on an official visit, Merkel, according to the TC, broke with her obligation to maintain neutrality and equal opportunities for all parties.
The AfD had filed two lawsuits against Merkel. One against his statements in South Africa and another against their publication on the government website.
The case
Merkel had defined February 5, 2020, as "a bad day for democracy" since it was the first time, and so far the only time, that her party, the CDU, voted jointly with the AfD.
Kemmerich ended up resigning a few days later due to public pressure and the impossibility of forming a government team and was in office until March, when Bodo Ramelow, from the Left Party, who currently governs in a minority with the support of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens.
The AfD had already been successful before the TC in proceedings against former Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer and former Minister for Research and Science Johanna Wanka.
The AfD filed a lawsuit against Seehofer after an interview with him critical of the AfD was published on the ministry's website. Against Wanka for having asked, in a statement on his Ministry's letterhead, for a "red card" against the AfD.
In both cases, the TC considered that although politicians from their Seehofer and Wanka parties could make attacks on the AfD, they should not do so in their capacity as ministers.
The sentence against Merkel also specifies that the obligation to maintain neutrality from a position in the Government "does not exclude that the members of the Government, regardless of their function, can participate in the struggle for the formation of public opinion."
A judge, Astrid Wallrabenstein, voted against the sentence.