By Stephen Peter
This summer vacation could be very uncomfortable for many politicians in Berlin. From Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court will advise whether the federal election of 2021 must be repeated in the capital.
From ten o’clock, Germany’s top judges will meet in Karlsruhe in the courtroom across from the palace. Subject of the oral hearing: “Election review complaint by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag against the decision of the German Bundestag of November 10, 2022.”
BZ answers the most important questions:
► Why are the CDU & CSU suing? At that time, the parliament decided with the votes of the traffic light to repeat the election in 431 constituencies. The Union finds this far too little because of the many glitches and wants a repetition in at least 1,200 constituencies. The AfD sees it similarly – after all, the same mistakes were made in the federal elections as in the elections to the House of Representatives and the district parliaments.
► What could the court decide? In theory, the constitutional judges could reject the re-election altogether – but that is unlikely. You will choose between a partial or complete repetition.
► When will the judges decide? Only the oral hearing will take place today and tomorrow, a decision is expected in September. There is a reason for this: A little later, constitutional judge Peter Müller (67) resigned from his office. Experts suspect that he still wants to be involved in this important decision.
► When is the new election? If the verdict actually comes in September, the vote could take place as early as October or November. Reason: 60-day period.
► Will Germany get a new government? No, nothing changes for the traffic light – the distance to the other parties is too big for that. But: It could be that the left loses its faction status. She only won three direct mandates in 2021. If she loses one of them, all other MPs are kicked out (except for the two direct mandates)!
► Is there another election campaign? Yes, which will be expensive for the parties. The left reckon with a partial redial with 300,000 euros, with a complete redial even with 800,000 euros costs! A large part of the money goes to Lichtenberg – Gesine Lötzsch’s mandate is considered to be at high risk and should be defended with all his might due to the status of the parliamentary group. “I’m prepared for everything,” said Lötzsch of the BZ. According to his own words, the FDP has no plans yet, the state associations of the CDU and SPD did not answer questions from the BZ
► What does this mean for the administration? The district offices have already been informed about plans for repeat elections, polling stations are already being determined (including libraries). Means: If there is an election, employees are withdrawn from the citizens’ offices for weeks.