Judge selection process to be revised, according to Woidke's proposal
In a bid to resolve the ongoing dispute over the appointment of three posts at the Federal Constitutional Court, Brandenburg's Minister President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) has called for the inclusion of the Left party and the Greens in the discussions.
The current nominee, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a federal labor court judge, has faced resistance within the Union faction due to perceived liberal stance on abortion and mandatory vaccination during the COVID-19 crisis. The SPD, however, has not yet publicly proposed an alternative candidate to Brosius-Gersdorf.
Woidke's proposal aims to achieve a two-thirds majority, which requires the support of at least one opposition party. The minister president emphasized that the candidates involved could still stand for election in a new procedure.
The election of these judges was unexpectedly removed from the Bundestag's agenda on July 11 due to resistance within the Union faction. The Union has not yet proposed an alternative candidate to Brosius-Gersdorf, and Brosius-Gersdorf has not been mentioned in the context of withdrawing her candidacy or restarting the procedure for the Federal Constitutional Court appointments.
The SPD has proposed constitutional lawyer Ann-Katrin Kaufhold as an alternative candidate. However, the CSU parliamentary group leader Alexander Hoffmann's suggestion of drafting a new judicial package has met with resistance from the SPD and Greens.
Woidke's proposal excludes the AfD from the negotiations. In his view, the only way out is for all candidates to withdraw and for the factions in the German Bundestag to completely restart this procedure.
Since 2021, Brosius-Gersdorf has held the chair for Public Law, with a focus on Constitutional Law and Social Law, at the University of Potsdam. The Union has nominated federal labor court judge Günter Spinner as an alternative candidate.
For precise and up-to-date information on the current positions of these parties and the status of the nomination dispute, it is recommended to consult recent German political news sources or official statements from the parties involved, as the search results do not provide this data.
The proposal from Brandenburg's Minister President Dietmar Woidke includes the Left party and the Greens in discussions over the contentious Federal Constitutional Court appointments, aiming to achieve a two-thirds majority. The ongoing dispute over the appointment of three posts, particularly regarding the nominee Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, has been heavily debated in policy-and-legislation and general-news, with various parties presenting their candidates and proposed legislative packages.
