Lawmakers in Germany have rejected a controversial bill on immigration reform. The draft legislation was proposed by the conservative opposition CDU party, but it has sparked outrage because it would only have passed with the support of the far-right AfD party.
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00:00A sigh of relief as the result is announced and a crushing defeat for conservative opposition
00:11leader Friedrich Merz.
00:13The German parliament has rejected his draft bill aimed at limiting irregular migration.
00:20In a heated and sometimes emotional debate, Merz, conservative leader and chancellor candidate,
00:27faced accusations of seeking to push his legislation through with the backing of the
00:32far-right AfD.
00:34The fall from grace will be with you forever, but we can still close the gates of hell together.
00:47You must raise the firewall, you must raise the firewall again, raise the firewall again.
00:55And the German foreign minister accused him of not telling the truth.
01:02What is unacceptable is making a mistake, failing to acknowledge it with the humility
01:07to say, I got it wrong, and instead shifting the blame onto others and spreading falsehoods,
01:16spreading falsehoods, especially at a time when people in our country are fearful.
01:24For the vote, Merz defended his approach of tolerating coincidental AfD-backed majorities
01:31as he is not actively looking for them.
01:36No one from my party extends a hand to the AfD, no one.
01:44This party is, for the most part, a far-right extremist party.
01:49This party undermines the foundation of our democracy.
01:54Merz lacked the support of 12 lawmakers from his own party group, a decisive margin.
01:59The far-right ceased the moment to question his leadership.
02:02The rejection of the bill by his own parliamentary group is the disempowerment of Friedrich Merz
02:08as a chancellor candidate.
02:11While it was surely Merz suffering a blatant defeat, after the debate, no one came out
02:17looking like a winner.