Constitutional Crisis Risk in Baden-Württemberg Over Government Formation

A potential constitutional crisis is being discussed in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, concerning Article 47 of the state constitution. This provision, which has never been invoked in the state's constitutional history, stipulates that if a government is not formed and confirmed within three months after a newly elected parliament convenes or after the office of the minister-president becomes vacant, the parliament must be dissolved. The article references Paul Feuchte's 1983 work 'Verfassungsgeschichte von Baden-Württemberg,' which details this clause. Feuchte, a state official and honorary professor at the University of Freiburg who temporarily held the chair of the renowned federal constitutional judge Konrad Hesse, published his book on the thirtieth anniversary of the constitution and was awarded the Schiller Prize by the city of Marbach for it. The context involves political tensions, possibly linked to CDU actions in Stuttgart, raising concerns about governance stability. The broader discussion includes unrelated FAZ+ content on topics such as tourism crises due to conflict, digital sovereignty issues with U.S. tech dependencies, and Arctic research significance, but the core focus is on the constitutional risk in Baden-Württemberg.