Rau Approves Hotly Disputed Immigration Bill

Normally, presidential approval of German laws is a mere formality. But after the conservative opposition Union bloc challenged the procedure by which Germany's first-ever immigration bill was passed in the upper legislative chamber in March, the decision became highly political.

Thus, all eyes were on Rau when he announced his decision to sign the bill into law on Thursday.

At a press conference announcing his decision, Rau heavily criticized the behavior of Germany's political parties following the vote on the law in the Bundesrat. The vote sparked an unprecedented uproar over proceedural irregularities after representatives from the state of Brandenburg in effect cast two conflicting votes.

Social Democratic State Premier Manfred Stolpe voted "yes," while his junior coalition partner, Interior Minister Jörg Schönbohm of the Christian Democratic Union, voted "no." The Social Democratic President of the Bundesrat, Klaus Wowereit, decided this counted as a "yes" vote, leaving a slim majority in favor of the legislation. Conservatives were outraged by the decision.

On Thursday, Rau accused Stolpe, Schönbohm and others involved in the split decision and subsequent salvo slinging of having damaging the reputation of the Bundesrat. He said the polemical tenor of the debate following the incident had damaged the public's image of politics and trust in government institutions.

Rau said he approved the law because he did not see any clear case that the vote had violated the constitution. Nevertheless, he said parties on both sides of the debate over the constutional soundness of the vote had "significant reasons" for their conclusions. For that reason, he said, an examination by the Constitutional Court of the events surrounding the immigration bill would be "highly desirable."

The opposition Union bloc drew a different analysis of the constitution, saying the conflicting vote should have been nullified. And immediately after Rau announced his decision, Thuringia Premier Berhard Vogel, of the opposition Christian Democrats, sought an injunction against the immigration regulations at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.

Meanwhile, the heads of the federal and state parliamentary group leaders of the Social Democratic Party and the Greens issued a joint statement lauding Rau's decision.

"We never had any doubt that the law regulating and limiting immigration was achieved in accordance with the constitution," the statement read.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder also supported Rau's move, saying he had "great respect" for the decision as well as the "critical remarks he had made." At the same time, he said it was the opposition's right to sue as much as they saw fit, but that "we will see how the Federal Constitutional Court handles it."

Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber, meanwhile, has said that he will seek to overturn the immigation law if he is elected chancellor in September. Stoiber is the joint chancellor candidate for the conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.

The disputed immigration law has become a major campaign issue in German national elections. The opposition Union bloc says immigration must be limited because of the more than four million unemployed Germans. But the government says the country needs to attract highly skilled foreign workers in technology and other sectors in order to make Germany more competitive in the global economy.