Constitutional judge: SPD contradicts Merz's "question of conscience" statement

Berlin – In the Brosius-Gersdorf case, SPD parliamentary group manager Dirk Wiese contradicts Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). "Of course, there are always decisions of conscience in the German Bundestag. But honestly, there are also coalition agreements," Wiese said in the Berlin Playbook podcast (Monday) of the news magazine POLITICO. "There are things that are agreed upon." Merz had said on ARD that one cannot give MPs orders from above: "When it comes to personnel issues like these, it's also a matter of conscience." Wiese said he expected commitments to be valid and that one "doesn't hide behind decisions of conscience." The SPD politician accused CDU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (CDU) of failure: "If we get a commitment that proposals for female judges for the Federal Constitutional Court will receive a majority and then ultimately Jens Spahn has to back down, then that is, in a certain sense, a loss of trust." Otherwise, in Wiese's view, a coalition will be difficult. "I would put it this way: if you think it through, votes will actually become difficult to predict. And then narrow majorities will also be difficult," said the SPD politician. Wiese demanded "that the Union supports Ms. Brosius-Gersdorf, invites her to the parliamentary group, and then participates in the vote in September."