Judgment confirms BSW is right
Court: ARD has to invite Wagenknecht party to the “election arena”.
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The WDR does not want the BSW to be included in its broadcast for the European elections. But in the second instance, the Higher Administrative Court decides in favor of the Wagenknecht party. Top candidate de Masi is allowed to take part.
The top candidate for the European elections of the new Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) party, Fabio De Masi, must be invited to the ARD program “Wahlarena 2024 Europe”. The North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster decided this in an expedited procedure and overturned a different decision by the Cologne Administrative Court.
The West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR), which is responsible for the broadcast, invited representatives from the SPD, CDU, CSU, Greens, FDP, AfD and the Left to the broadcast on Thursday. The editor in charge argued that the program should also look at the current election period, in which BSW did not yet exist. In addition, the number of guests had to be limited so that the station concentrated on representatives of the parties that were already represented in the current European Parliament and had relevant weight in Germany.
Judgment of the administrative court revised
From the OVG's point of view, the broadcast format does not justify disregarding the BSW. WDR would be free to dedicate an election program exclusively or primarily to a review of the past electoral period. However, it was not apparent that this approach was actually the focus of the program, the court explained.
It is also impossible to determine why the total number of possible guests must necessarily be limited to seven. The OVG also did not accept the argument that only parties with relevant weight should be invited. Since February, the BSW has been moving in a “survey corridor” of four to seven percent and therefore has better chances than the FDP and the Left.
The administrative court ruled a week ago that WDR had the right to “determine its own participants” at its own discretion. Public broadcasters would also have to take parties into account according to their importance in editorial broadcasts before elections. The WDR met the requirements by not inviting the BSW to the “election arena”, but “offering it sufficient opportunity to reach voters in other election-related broadcasts”.
