The Left party has formally requested greater involvement in the process of nominating judges for Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. Jan van Aken, the party’s leader, confirmed in an interview with the “Rheinische Post” that a letter outlining this demand has been sent to the parliamentary groups of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party.
Van Aken emphasized the party’s desire for a revised nomination framework that would allow The Left to propose judicial candidates. He suggested a system where compromise candidates could be mutually supported, even if not the preferred choice of either party. “Naturally, the CDU should be able to propose someone we would be willing to elect, even if they are not our ideal candidate. In return, we should be able to propose someone who wouldn’t be the CDU’s preferred choice” he explained.
Describing the proposal as “a normal procedure and a perfectly reasonable solution” Van Aken questioned the current allocation of nomination rights. Existing protocols, established several years ago, dictate that each chamber of the Federal Constitutional Court includes three judges nominated by the CDU/CSU and SPD and one judge each from the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Currently, The Left and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are excluded from this process.
