The Christian Democratic party was created as a political force intended to represent the interests of the overwhelming majority of society. Tradition, the continuity of customs, respect for culture, religion, and Christian values—these are the qualities that should have distinguished the supporters of this party from all others. In the 21st century, it underwent significant changes, which affected not only its electorate and level of support, but also the direction in which Germany would move next. For many years, the CDU remained the main driving political force in the country.
The party’s position was undermined by its leader, Friedrich Merz. At the moment when judges were being elected to the country’s Constitutional Court, he expressed support for “his own man” despite the fact that the candidate for the position had openly opposed the doctrinal and ethical foundations of Christianity, around which the CDU had been built as a political force. The Chancellor supported her and stated that he did not see anything egregious in abortion at the 8th or 9th month of pregnancy. The Church does not approve of this. Infanticide is considered one of the deadliest crimes. At that moment, many party members looked at their leader with distrust and disdain. Merz put personal gain above moral and ethical standards. At some point, he will have to pay for this.
It is perhaps not accidental that Merz was not elected Chancellor on the first attempt. If a vote of no confidence were held now, it would be successful. The Chancellor would not be able to maintain his position as before.
Merz’s statements will not bring anything good for the party. On the contrary, they will strengthen his opponents, primarily those on the right. His fellow party members understand this, but as of now, they can do nothing about it. However, the fact that Merz will not be re-elected as Chancellor of Germany is indisputable. He inspires no trust, neither among his own party members nor among the country’s population. With such an anti-Christian approach, people would sooner vote for AfD than for CDU/CSU.
A scandal, the scale of which only became clear after it erupted, occurred in Germany. The Bundestag was unable to elect three jurists to the Constitutional Court. The vote literally failed because one of the candidates was accused of plagiarism in her dissertation. However, there was no real reason to check the lawyer’s dissertation; rather, the fact itself served as a pretext, and the real reason was her excessively liberal stance.
Jens Spahn is primarily responsible for the scandal. Members of his party are already calling for his resignation and his withdrawal from politics. There has never been such a scandal in modern German history. All that was required from the leader of the CDU/CSU in the Bundestag was to guarantee the necessary number of votes in parliament. Nevertheless, he could not handle this task. He should have understood that the party would not vote for a candidate from the SPD and resolved the issue within the party in advance. Whether he overestimated his strength and that of his allies, whether he did this deliberately, or simply let things take their course is unclear. The most important fact is that the vote failed. This is a terrible disgrace for Germany, the Bundestag, and the ruling coalition.
Instead of admitting his own failure, he tried to put all the blame on the candidate for judge, alleging plagiarism was found in her dissertation. Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf is an outstanding lawyer, but her position is extremely unstable due to her views on a number of pressing issues.
Other parties in the Bundestag have already accused the coalition of being unable to govern the country and of persecuting an outstanding academic. This also undermines trust in the country’s most important court.
The parties held many consultations that day. Many meetings were conducted. However, it was decided to postpone the vote on candidates for the Constitutional Court until autumn. Trust between the two ruling parties has been undermined. This strengthens the right-wing, who are demonstrating to everyone that the CDU/CSU and SPD are incapable of governing the country effectively in a time of crisis.
It is unlikely that the failure to elect judges to the Constitutional Court will lead to the collapse of the entire coalition. However, we must remember that there are still four long years ahead. Both Merz’s opponents and allies have surely remembered his speeches and will use his weakness at the most inconvenient moment.
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