Merkel scolded by German court for political comments

Germany's long-time former chancellor, Angela Merkel, was reprimanded by a top court on Wednesday for overstepping the mark when it came to criticizing her political opponents, reported dpa.

Merkel had violated the principle of equal opportunity of the parties in her remarks about the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the judges at the Constitutional Court ruled.

The court case goes back to February 2020, when the regional parliament in the central state of Thuringia chose a liberal politician as its state premier.

The premier in question, Thomas Kemmerich, was elected with the votes of three parties: his own Free Democrats (FDP), Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and - most controversially - the AfD.

The fact that the CDU had effectively joined forces with the AfD to elect a state premier generated a political shock wave in Germany, where the anti-migrant AfD is all but excluded from power at state and federal level, despite being present in all legislatures.

Other mainstream parties before and since the Thuringia vote have refused to work with or form coalitions with the AfD.

In light of this, Merkel said shortly after Kemmerich's election that the outcome of the Thuringia vote was "unforgivable and therefore must be reversed." It was a "bad day for democracy," she said.

Amid the political uproar about his election, Kemmerich resigned three days later. A left-wing state premier, Bodo Ramelow, was elected the following month.

By then, the AfD had announced legal action against Merkel for coercing Kemmerich into resigning - which resulted in Wednesday's ruling.