BERLIN: German party leaders were engaged in furious last-minute talks on Friday, delaying a high-stakes debate on an immigration bill which the conservative opposition has threatened to pass with the support of the far-right AfD.
The debate and a potential vote threatened to escalate a dispute which began Wednesday, when the conservative CDU-CSU relied on AfD votes to pass a motion calling for a crackdown on new arrivals and tight border controls.
The CDU leader and favorite to be Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sparked outrage with the maneuver, which was condemned by the other parties as a breach of a long-standing taboo or “firewall” against cooperating with far-right parties.
His move comes after a series of deadly attacks that have darkened the mood in Germany over the arrival of millions of war refugees and other asylum seekers in recent years, ahead of February 23 elections.
The debate in the Bundestag was initially slated to begin at 10:30 am (0930 GMT) before the CDU called for the sitting to be temporarily suspended for emergency talks.
The small, pro-business FDP had previously said it would request the debate to be completely postponed to allow parties other than the AfD more time to find a common solution.
Senior politicians from across the political spectrum shuttled in and out of Merz’s office in the Bundestag complex as they sought a compromise, an AFP journalist saw.
The wrangling over how to proceed with the bill had already lasted several hours on Friday without a solution.
Wednesday’s historic vote was cheered by the anti-immigration AfD but put Merz on the defensive as even his party’s former chancellor Angela Merkel broke years of silence on day-to-day politics to slam it as “wrong.”
Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz charged that Merz’s tactical maneuver was a breach of his previous promises to shun the AfD and left him “open to the accusation that he is untrustworthy.”
Scholz even raised the spectre of Merz, if he wins, one day allowing the AfD into a government — a scenario that horrifies the mainstream parties in the country still seeking to atone for the Nazi regime and the Holocaust.
While Wednesday’s motion was a non-binding call to restrict immigration, the proposal on Friday’s agenda would have the force of law, which would mark another milestone in German politics.
To protest Wednesday’s move, thousands took to the streets in multiple rallies on Thursday waving signs that read: “Shame on you,” “Friedrich Merz is a security risk for our democracy” and “We are the firewall.”
Merz has vowed to wrest the initiative back from the AfD to call for a crackdown on immigration, in an about-turn from the open-door policy of his more centrist predecessor and party rival Merkel.
The CDU and its Bavarian allies the CSU want to propose the so-called Influx Limitation Act which would restrict family reunions for rejected asylum seekers with stays of deportation.
If it becomes law, it will also boost the powers of federal police to detain undocumented migrants, whom Merz wants to place in custody and send back as soon as possible.