After Juli Zeh steps down, AfD claims seat on Brandenburg constitutional court
The AfD plans to nominate a successor to the novelist and is relying on its blocking minority in the state parliament. The SPD and CDU will consult; the BSW criticizes plans to change the selection process.
Symbolic image · Photo: Daniel Naber / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
After novelist and lawyer Juli Zeh resigned from Brandenburg's state constitutional court, the AfD is laying claim to the vacant post. "We will propose a candidate to succeed Juli Zeh," said Dennis Hohloch, the AfD group's parliamentary manager. "We will see whether the other groups fulfil their democratic obligations." The AfD says it is entitled to two of the nine judgeships. Zeh had served as an honorary constitutional judge since 2019, with her term due to end in 2029; she cited a heavy professional workload as the reason for stepping down.
Constitutional judges are elected by the state parliament with a two-thirds majority, or 59 of 88 votes. The AfD holds 30 seats and thus has a blocking minority. SPD group leader Björn Lüttmann said the coalition would "consult promptly"; the SPD had not expected judicial elections until 2028. CDU group leader Steeven Bretz said: "At the end of the day there has to be a solution that leads to the constitutional court being fully staffed."
In their coalition agreement, the SPD and CDU agreed to give the constitutional court the right to propose new judges if parliament cannot agree. The AfD opposes this and is backed by the BSW. "When you no longer have a comfortable two-thirds majority, you can't simply change the rules of the game," said BSW parliamentary manager Falk Peschel. Until a successor is elected, the court is working with eight instead of nine members; 95 cases are currently pending.