Katherina Reiche: The Left wins in the insulting video dispute before the Constitutional Court

Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) has to issue an interim order to delete a video in which she associates the Left with anti-Semitism. This is what the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ordered. The decision is available to SPIEGEL. The Left had filed an urgent application, but the main issue has not yet been decided.

The video in question is about a speech by Reich that was shared on the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Instagram channel after the Left's election victory in Berlin. In excerpts from a speech on September 23rd, Reiche warns that it is dangerous for the capital and Germany as an investment location that a party talks about expropriation and writes this into its program and "openly practices anti-Semitism that frightens the Jews in this city."

“Deeply shabby”

“The large-scale campaign by CDU ministers against the Left is currently collapsing like a house of cards,” Janis Ehling, federal managing director of the Left, told SPIEGEL. Instead of using her office for a factual political debate, Reiche tried to discredit the left with targeted allegations. “The fact that ministers are abusing their political power for such a smear campaign is deeply shabby and raises serious questions about their understanding of their office,” said Ehling.

The Left saw the distribution via the ministry account as violating their right to equal political opportunities. Reiche can attack the left as a political opponent - but she cannot use government channels to do so.

The judges in Karlsruhe see it similarly. “In this case, the publication and distribution of the Instagram post took place with specific use of official authority and state resources,” says the Constitutional Court’s decision. In addition, it is questionable whether Reiche respects the limits set by the principle of objectivity in her "possibly disparaging formulations and the accusations made with sharp and at least polemically pointed words [...]."

Red-green-red in difficult conversations

The Left is also taking legal action against other politicians who have accused the party of anti-Semitism and proximity to criminal clans via social media. Some deleted their posts afterwards, others didn't. Among other things, the Left is also suing Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU).

The Left was clearly the strongest force in Berlin in the election to the House of Representatives on September 20th. She is now aiming to form a government. The exploratory talks between the Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin have so far been overshadowed by these allegations. However, all three parties want to work towards a red-green-red coalition. If this happens, she could nominate a governing mayor for the first time with her top candidate and co-party leader Elif Eralp.